I don't own Leverage... or much else really. huh. ;)
Sophie shifted a bit and then reached over to Nate's side of the bed. Her hand met sheets that had already gone cold from the lack of his presence. He could move pretty quietly when he wanted; she hadn't felt him leave. Sighing, she got up.
After using the washroom, Sophie went down the stairs, checking the clock on the way there. 3:30 am. Christ.
Nate was sitting at the island in the kitchen, his laptop open in front of him. Other than that, he hadn't turned on any lights. There was a bottle of scotch sitting beside him, and an empty glass. Strangely enough, the bottle hadn't been opened; it was still sealed.
Sophie walked up behind Nate and wrapped her arms around him. "You planning on drinking it?" she asked, indicating the bottle.
He shrugged, being careful not to hurt her. "I really don't know. I keep sitting here, telling myself I shouldn't. But then the pain keeps coming through. I thought I'd try distracting myself with planning our next job, but it isn't doing any good. All I can feel is this part of my mind screaming at me to just open that bottle." He closed his eyes. "I can almost taste the damn stuff. How bad is that?"
She squeezed him again and then let go, sitting down beside him. "Nate, if you can't quit all at once than you can't. The fact that you're even trying to is a good sign. I can well remember a time when you were sure it wasn't a problem."
"Yeah, at that damned rehab centre. That day when they kept me there when I tried to leave," he shook his head, "I was ready to kill them. Really kill them Soph."
"I could tell. The way you looked at me when I came in... that was the first time I was ever afraid to be alone with you. I believed you wouldn't hurt me, but beliefs don't do much to stop someone's fists if they decide to hit you." She looked away at the probing nature of the look he was giving her.
"Soph, look at me." When she didn't, he said "Please." She finally met his eyes. "I would never, ever, in a million years, hit you. I would never hit any woman unless they were a danger to me first."
"I am a danger to you Nate. You know it, and so do I."
"I don't care. You can do anything to me, anything, and I would still never hurt you like that. Any guy that would deserves to have his friggin' hands cut off."
"He did." When Nate looked confused, she looked down. "My..." she hesitated "brother, of sorts. He found out about what the guy was doing. The guy was found dead two days later. In pieces." She swallowed. "They never really figured out who did it, but I knew what happened. And I was relieved. How sick is that? Hell, next to that, I guess alcoholism isn't so bad."
"I hope he suffered for a long time before he died." Nate's eyes were hard as diamonds. "He deserved it Sophie." He stared at the bottle in front of him for a second, then got up and put it back in the cupboard. "Come on," he said, pulling on her hand and leading her over to the couch. "Tell me another story. I think we could both use the distraction."
She nodded. "Good idea." She thought for a second and then said "Okay, the setting for the next scene is Kentucky. Remember when we conned Foss to help Eliot's friend Willie?" Nate nodded. "Well, Eliot must have realised that I missed riding, because he invited me with him. I'm not sure how he knew I could ride in the first place. Maybe it was just that I wasn't nervous at all around those animals, even though they could have squashed me like a bug if they'd wanted."
After The Two Horse Job:
"Hey, thanks." Eliot walked up and stood beside Sophie, looking out at the paddock. Baltimore stood there, contentedly chewing tufts of grass. He still had some marks left from the fire at Willie's stable, but he looked a hell of a lot better than when Eliot had first seen him.
"For what?" Sophie looked over.
"For backing me with Nate today. I don't think he would've listened if it had just been me." Eliot whistled, and Baltimore came over to them. Eliot scratched his nose.
"You're welcome. You were right though. If we'd stalled Foss would've figured out our plan." She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out one of the sugar cubes she'd taken from the kitchen earlier. Baltimore took it, crunching it and then pushing his nose at her, wanting more. She laughed. "No way, one's enough. Too much of anything is bad for you." She patted him and then turned away. Eliot followed her as she headed back to the stables.
"You wanna go for a ride?" He opened the door for her.
"Are you asking me on a date, Eliot?" She lifted an eyebrow at him.
"What? No, no. I just thought... well, it's been a long time since I was back here and, well, this place is best seen from horseback. But if you don't want to..." he shrugged.
"I'm kidding, Eliot. I'd love to go for a ride." They grabbed tack and saddles and saddled up. Eliot was a bit impressed at her knowledge. Of course, where he'd grown up most girls knew all about horses, but Sophie really hadn't seemed like an outdoors type. He was going to offer to boost her onto her horse but she was up and seated faster than he could speak. He smiled a bit. The woman was like an onion. Every time he thought he'd figured her out, he learned something new.
"This way," he said.
They rode in silence for a bit, enjoying the sights and the sounds. He took her down the paths he used to ride all the time. Try though he might to suppress them, some of his memories kept intruding on him. This place was full of them.
"I think... yep, it's still clear. Guess I wasn't the only one who knew about it after all," he said, turning his horse down a path that was almost hidden from sight. "Watch your head on the branches," he said.
"Where are we going?" Sophie ducked to miss a low hanging tree limb.
"The most beautiful place in Kentucky." He stopped about five minutes later and jumped down from his horse. "We hafta go on foot from here. Don't want to risk the horses." They tied off the reins to a nearby tree. Eliot led Sophie further along the path. "Be careful. There are some loose rocks up here. Or at least, there used to be."
"Not going to get me lost are you?" She smiled.
"Sophie, I didn't get lost in the jungles of Africa. I don't think Kentucky is a huge risk. Here we go," he said. He turned and dropped down about four feet off a ledge Sophie hadn't even seen.
"Here," he said, reaching up. Sophie sat down on the edge of the drop and then pushed off, counting on him to make sure she didn't fall. He caught her and set her down on her feet. Strangely enough, though he could've kept his hands on her for an extra moment, under the pretence of 'steadying her' he didn't.
"Look," he said, pulling aside a tree limb for her and gesturing for her to go ahead of him. She did, and then stopped dead a few seconds later, a gasp falling from her lips before she could stop it. It was... okay, yes he was right, this was definitely the most beautiful thing she'd seen in their entire time here. Spread out before them was a grotto, willow trees surrounding it and dipping some of their fronds into the water. The pool in front of them was as still as glass. She could see an almost perfect reflection of the sky in the water. He didn't say anything, letting her take in the sights. But he did lead her over and seat her on one of the nearby boulders.
After about five minutes, she turned to him and said "This place is amazing. How'd you know about it?"
He smiled. "I used to come here to think. No one else really knew about it. I could just sit without anyone bugging me. When I was in a bad mood it always helped."
She nodded. "I could see how it could do that."
"I used to swim in the pond too. Actually, that's where I learned to swim. I taught myself. Nearly drowned the first time too." He grinned. "It's deceiving because it's so clear, but the water is about twelve feet deep at the centre."
"You went swimming all by yourself and nearly drowned, so you decided to do it again?" She shook her head. "I will never understand men."
"Well the nearly drowning part I didn't plan. And I was swimming alone because I didn't want to let anyone else know about this place. Plus, I was kinda naked at the time, so..."
Sophie started giggling. "And if they'd found you drowned and naked?"
"Well, it wouldn't have mattered to me, I'd have been dead," he replied, smiling too.
"I suppose," she said, still laughing a bit.
After about half an hour, Sophie looked at her watch. "We need to get back. Got a plane to catch."
"Back to LA. Smoggy and overpopulated." Eliot sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I ever left this place."
"You can still come back. From what I've seen, I have a feeling Amy wouldn't mind that at all."
Eliot shook his head. "I won't. I have too many enemies Sophie. They'd find me and take out their revenge on her." Besides, he thought to himself, that promise to Uncle Sam still stands. Like it or not.
He boosted her up onto the ledge and then followed. By five that evening they were on their way back to California.