"Hardison!" Sophie exclaimed
Eliot merely growled at the young, still laughing hacker.
"Well it is kind of funny, Eliot." Parker added in making the Hitter growl menacingly once more
"What else happened?" Nate questioned, wanting to get as much info out of the Hitter as he could
"When I came around the corner, I told her I wasn't going to hurt her and that I just wanted to talk to her. She began looking around wildly like she was expecting an ambush or something. The girl was frightened." Eliot explained
"She leaned down in your ear and said 'I'm sorry'. I think she thought you were a part of the security team at first. She didn't want to hurt you." Sophie added in
"What was she afraid of? It still doesn't explain why she's been showing up at our jobs." Nate stated
Eliot sat there thinking over every last detail of his encounter with the mystery woman. Hardison was listening to the recordings from their ear buds. All he got was the two words she'd spoken to their unconscious hitter. He couldn't get a voice recognition from it, her voice wasn't loud enough for it unfortunately. Nate had the hacker turn up the volume on Eliot's ear bud to try and catch any other sound that they otherwise might have missed. Eliot heard the petite woman whisper in his ear 'I'm sorry'.
Hardison wasn't picking up much else and it was starting to irritate him a bit. That girl was terrified. Eliot had seen that look before. She was paranoid. Why? She fought…. She never really hurt anyone, just knocked them out. She'd had some training of some sort.
"Someone's after her." Eliot suddenly exclaimed
"How do you know?" Parker questioned
"The look in her eyes, the way she thought she was about to be ambushed. The way she fought." Eliot simply replied, closing his eyes again
"Nate! If someone's after that girl, we have to do something!" Sophie exclaimed, clearly shocked at the idea
"Eliot spooked her. I don't think we can get close to her again." Nate replied, furrowing his brows
"We can't just leave her to the wolves, Nate! She needs our help." Sophie cut in
"If someone is after her that would explain why she's showing up at our jobs. Maybe she's trying to find a way for them to leave her alone." Hardison added
"No. I don't think so." Eliot stated
"How do you know?" Parker innocently questioned
"I just do, Parker!" Eliot bellowed
"We can't just leave that poor girl out to defend herself." Sophie countered
"The way she took out Eliot, I'm sure she can fend for herself, Sophie. We'll just have to wait and see if we can catch her again." Nate responded
No one knew better than the Hitter what it felt like to be so paranoid about being ambushed. The rest of his team just didn't understand how he knew this girl was being chased and that she was frightened. She could hold her own, he was sure of it, but he was intrigued. Who was she exactly? Who was she running from? Nate didn't think they were any closer to finding this woman. He was worried she might be working against them, even if she didn't know it, and might end up causing them some serious problems.
Sophie was worried for the girl's safety even though she didn't know anything about her. Who could she be running from? Eliot had told them when he confronted her she panicked and began looking around for others in an ambush. How bad could her life have been thus far to make her as paranoid as Eliot?! Their Hitter had done some awful things to people. She understood his paranoia even though she felt he shouldn't be paranoid any longer. What shocked her more than anything, however, was the fact that this woman beat Eliot in a fight.
The Mother Hen knew that fact messed with his mind. It wasn't often Eliot was beaten or had someone get the best of him in a fight. Even when he fought Quinn and Roper, he eventually came out on top and won the fight. But this woman. She got him. Sophie knew Eliot wouldn't just let the girl win either. This was a very perplexing situation they found themselves in!
That man. The man with the shoulder-length chestnut hair and piercing blue eyes. He fought well. Better than any of the security guards she'd taken down thus far. He wasn't wearing the security uniform which meant he was either private security or he was here on…. Other… business. What other business that could be unnerved her. After taking him down, she leaned into his ear hoping that at least his subconscious would hear her apology.
She retreated the way she had come in hopes that if the guy had any associates she would escape before meeting them. Her job had been completed so she headed straight to the place she'd been staying the past week. Locking the door to her haven, and with the curtains still drawn, she sat down and thought over the past few weeks. She still had a few jobs to do, the hardest and most physical one was yet to come, and then she hoped she could get out of the game. She wanted to buy herself an island and live in blissful solitude.
Evan Van Bree was an evil man. The things he'd done to her family and to her. The things she had done for him. The things she had to do in order to escape. She was certain he wasn't just going to let her go as easily as she escaped. She wasn't delusional enough to think she'd gotten away scot free. Suddenly feeling icky, she went to take herself a very hot shower. She needed to scrub the feeling off her. Most people looked at her and dismissed her.
Being short and petite didn't make people absolutely tremble in fear at her. For most people that would be enough to intimidate them into not doing the things she did. For her, however, she used everyone's underestimations to her advantage. Over the years she had developed skills that allowed her to do almost anything. One of the very few things she hadn't learned to do, as of yet anyhow, was control the night terrors she suffered from. Sometimes she went days without sleep because of them.
She had been taking jobs sabotaging companies who were cheating and doing wrong in general. It was just a job. She wasn't cut out for the normal 9-to-5 type of jobs. Abiding by the laws of normal citizens wasn't something she was really capable of either. She'd never liked rules as a child and after…. Evan…. She knew she'd never be able to abide them now. Making sure the windows and door was locked and traps set, she laid down in the small and slightly uncomfortable bed to try and get some rest.
When she closed her eyes, however, all she saw were those remarkable blue orbs staring back at her. He seemed just as shocked to see her as she had been to see him. Those eyes softened as he spoke to her and he seemed genuine in what he said. Then again Evan had seemed genuine sometimes as well and she couldn't forget how that turned out. His voice softened as he spoke. He had a sweet southern drawl that she knew could get her into some kind of trouble. What she couldn't past were those eyes.