When it Rains…

No, I'm not dead…and no, I have no excuse for leavin' you guys in the lurch for so long. I guess you could say that I was uninspired; that and I've been doin' research and plannin' out the next story, actually, I keep having sporadic ideas for 3 stories, soooo….

Anyway, this one's a little dark, but I felt like seeing that side of Eliot this round. =)

No one would ever say that life with the Leverage team was dull or uneventful.

Eliot Spencer prided himself on being able to roll with the punches and adapt to almost any given situation. It was a necessary skill to have in his line of work, as well as fatherhood and marriage.

In May when a girl and her boyfriend had called Lily a freak, Cam stepped in to defend her, resulting in the boy punching Cam. What secretly amused him however, was when his ten year old daughter had tackled the sixteen year old boy to the ground. The feeling had been replaced by pride however, when he was informed that Cam had punched the boy in the jaw when he went to hit her. But the principal wasn't as amused, and called both he and Sarah down to the school to explain why they were both suspended…two weeks before the end of school. He then had the pleasure of watching his 5'6" wife go toe to toe with the 6'2" principal when they found out that the boy who had started the fight wasn't getting punished. Twenty minutes later when they all left the office, all three kids had detention after school for a week.

When the kids brought home a stray cat the next month that had broken legs, he and Sarah calmly explained, yet again; as this was a normal occurrence, why the kitten couldn't stay with them. Of course when the trip to the local animal shelter had resulted in them being informed that the kitten would have to be euthanized due to severe internal infections, they spent the next two weeks consoling the kids in their grief. His nerves did twitch however, when it took almost three weeks to clear the house of the major flea infestation that had followed. If not for Sarah and Anne, Eliot would have banned the kids from ever bringing another animal into the house again.

A con in July went horribly wrong when the mark's daughter overheard Parker talking to Hardison over the comms. Within minutes, she had alerted her father, and security had flooded the area, pinning Nate and Parker on opposite sides of the building, two floors apart, and Eliot stuck in the server room downloading files. Sarah jumped out of Lucille, leaving Hardison, and ran into the building, announcing that she would get Parker. But by the time Eliot made it to where Nate had been, the older man was gone. He didn't have time to worry though, when his wife's grunts of pain over the comms filled him with anger.

Having been attacked by seven men, the girls had done pretty well; five were on the floor unconscious. It seemed though that the last two were more adept at fighting, as he found Parker sitting against a wall, holding her ribs, while Sarah stood protectively in front of her, trying to fend them off, with a gash on her forehead and favoring her left leg. Eliot had dispatched them quickly, getting the two women out of the building.

Nate was missing for three days, during which time Sophie was inconsolable. But in the end, Hardison found him, and Eliot and Sarah had gone in, tearing their way through the security, to find him tied to a chair in an abandoned prison. Their grifter felt like she had lost years off her life when she saw the sorry state he was in. He ended up having to stay in the hospital for three weeks due to broken bones, muscle damage, and an infection that had taken hold in his lungs. By the time he got out, Hardison, Parker, Eliot and Sarah had finished the con, the mark having gone to prison for laundering.

Two weeks ago, he had lost a year of his life when a sparring session with Cam had gone wrong, and ended with the sixteen year old fracturing his elbow. He had rushed him to the hospital, only to be accused with several pairs of eyes that he might be abusing Cam. The doctor had even asked to speak with Cam alone, inquiring about his home life, which resulted in Eliot barging back into the room when he heard Cam's raised voice. The expression on his boy's face said it all, and if the look of fear on the doctor's face was anything to go by, as he pressed against the wall, his son had taken serious offense to the accusation. Of course the confrontation with his wife when she got home had him in the same situation. Sarah had not been happy. He had slept on the couch for two nights before she forgave him.

Now nearing the end of August, and the beginning of Cam and Lily's school year, he was ashamed to admit that he briefly let his guard down…which as he was now realizing had been a mistake.

Two weeks ago, Sarah had received a call from her friend Kerri, whom she had met on one of their cons two years ago, to tell her that she was finally getting married. Kerri and her then boyfriend Jeremy had been hustled out of the money they had saved for a house in a pyramid scam. After the con was over, the mark arrested, and their money returned, Sarah got a call from Kerri a week later asking her if she wanted to go out for drinks. They had been friends ever since. So it had been no surprise when Sarah stated in no uncertain terms, that she was going to throw her a bachelorette party. It helped that Kerri lived in Vegas.

When Sarah didn't call him the morning after the party, he brushed it off, thinking that she had just drank too much and was sleeping it off in her hotel room. When he still hadn't heard from her by that afternoon, he called her cell, only to have it go to voice mail. So he called the hotel she had made reservations at and confirmed that she had yet to check out today as planned. The receptionist graciously offered to ring her room, but when she received no answer, Eliot asked her to have a porter check the suite to make sure she was okay. Her room was found empty and appeared to have not been slept in. By early evening, Hardison had tracked the gps on her cell phone to the parking lot of the strip club the girls had gone to, when the gps for her rental car showed it was still parked at the hotel. And by 11 o'clock, Eliot was walking toward the nearest car rental counter at McCarran International Airport.

He arrived at the club thirty minutes later, but unfortunately the parking lot was packed, as the evening crowd had already arrived, making it harder to search for clues. Hoping her cell phone hadn't died yet, he called it and was rewarded with a ringing, not twenty feet away.

"Damn it sweetheart, where the hell are you," he muttered darkly as he picked it up.

Surveying the surrounding area, he found what he was hoping for when he spotted a camera mounted over the front door to the club. So, using a few techniques Sophie had taught him, with the help of a few bills, he quickly made his way inside, and within two minutes, he was in a small room, looking at last night's security tape. Around the 10:00pm timestamp, he saw the limo with Sarah, Kerri and three women he didn't know, pull up and drop them off before driving away. When the timestamp hit 2:22am, he slowed the video down again as he watched the women exiting the club. It was obvious that they were drunk, Kerri much more so, if her stumbling around and holding onto his wife for support was anything to go by.

His sharp gaze caught the expression on his wife's face, even on the grainy playback, and watched as she looked around as if confused that something wasn't there that should have been.

"Someone must have sent the limo away," he muttered darkly.

"Excuse me sir?" the young employee asked cautiously.

"I wasn't talkin' to you," Eliot growled out, watching the scene unfold on the screen.

A dark colored van pulled up moments later, and Sarah had had barely enough time to push Kerri and the girls behind her, before five guys jumped out and made to grab for them. A sixth joined in seconds later, when Sarah took out one of them with a couple of well-aimed hits. Even through the darkening of his eyes from the rage he felt at seeing her being attacked, the barest hint of a smirk lifted the corner of his mouth at the fact that the men on the tape got a whole lot more than they expected when they decided to assault the women. Even in her inebriated state, his girl was giving them hell, although he could tell that she wasn't in top form due to it. The low rumbling from his chest moments later as he watched one of the men sneak up behind her and hit her on the head knocking her out, had the club employee backing away from the hitter.

Slamming a fifty on the counter, Eliot already had Hardison on the phone searching for the partial plate number before he made it to his vehicle.

"Okay man, I got a hit. The van is registered to a Leo Martin, robbery, assault, kidnapping; small crimes."

"His address Hardison," Eliot growled out.

"It's not that simple man. It's who he works for that's the problem. Bernardo Salirno…he dabbles in drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering, but specializes in…oh shit."

"Damn it Hardison, spit it out!"

"Human trafficking," the hacker murmured. "He supplies women to buyers all over Europe, Russia and China. He's been on the FBI's watch list for years, but they've never managed to find enough evidence to charge him. You've gotta be kiddin' me."

"What is it Hardison?" Eliot growled out, hearing fear in the hacker's voice.

"I can't be sure man…but I think…I think this is the man that Rafael was going to hand Sarah over to eleven years ago."

The silence was so deafening, that a pin being dropped would have sounded like a bomb. Hardison began talking, most likely to explain the connection and to talk him out of what he was fixing to do, but all Eliot heard was…memories.

'Oh I don't think you'll be leaving just yet," Rafael said with a cocky smile. "I have a friend coming to meet Sarah.'

'I don't think so,' Sarah replied.

'You don't have much say in the matter my dear. I've warned him that you're going to be a handful, but he says he likes the challenge. And with his success rate, he should have you trained properly in no time at all. Then I'm sure you'll make him a good amount of money with that body of yours.'

"Eliot? Eliot! I'm gonna get Nate, he'll know what…"

"No."

"Look man, I know it's Sarah, but this is serious, you can't do this on your own. This man is on the FBI's ten most wanted list. He's like a wanna be Moreau. There'll be too many…"

"Stop talkin' Hardison. I need an address."

Hardison sighed. "Sure man, for what?"

"The nearest army surplus store."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Eliot surveyed the area around the twenty story building with a critical eye assessing everything from possible threats to exit points, as he slid the last of the knives into the tack vest and pulled the black beanie over his hair. By the time he had finished 'borrowing' supplies from a closed surplus store, Hardison had called him back with the information that Bernardo Salirno owned a casino slash hotel in downtown Vegas, and that he had caught the van in question pulling up near the back door around 245am, thanks to the security cameras surrounding the building. Any further urging on the hacker's part to let him tell Nate went on deaf ears as Eliot ended the call.

He bypassed the camera easily as he dispatched the two security guards within seconds, and then dragged them behind the nearby dumpster before silently entering the building. Find nothing but a hallway with a T-Junction and several doors, he began his search.

It was her scream moments later that alerted him to where she was. But it was the terror in her tone that had him barreling through the three men that came around the corner, surprised to see an intruder. The flurry of blows the hitter unleashed on them however; breaking multiple bones as well as puncturing one's lung, had them unconscious on the ground within moments, allowing him to continue towards the room at the end of the hallway.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sarah struggled against the man as best as one could, handcuffed to a bed. She had put on a brave front at first, taking down several of Bernardo's men before he finally ordered them to give her something to calm her down, resulting in the mild sedative that had been in her system for almost twelve hours. Because of this, any normal attempts she would have made for escape were eliminated, as it messed with her muscles and mental acuity. She hadn't seen Kerri or the other girls since she had been brought into this room six hours ago, but listening to the very talkative men, gave her the knowledge that they were at least alive. It also gave her the unwelcome knowledge on her situation.

Apparently, Jeremy had stupidly gotten involved with Salirno, arranging meetings with possible clients, as well as making deliveries. But he got greedy, skimming money off the top, in hopes that it wouldn't be noticed. It had been of course, which resulted in Salirno giving him twenty four hours to get him his money back. When that hadn't happened, he went after the next best thing…..Kerri. Unfortunately, the night they decided to abduct her, happened to be the night of her bachelorette party. Sarah wasn't sure if Jeremy was still alive or not, but if he wasn't, he was going to wish he was by the time she was finished with him….if she got out of her current situation.

Antonio, the man on top of her; being much too friendly for her tastes, was Bernardo's 'tester'. He checked out the 'merchandise', (aka. the girls), to get a feel so to speak, of their worth. She was trying not to show the terror that she was feeling, at the fact that this man could very well rape her, and there was nothing she could do to fight back. And if anything solidified her assumption of his plans, it was the fact that he had stripped her to nothing but her bra and underwear.

"Go ahead, struggle honey, I like a little fire in my girls," he chuckled in a raspy voice as his hand skimmed their way up her thighs and hips to her breast.

"Big words…comin' from a man that has ta…drug a girl ta get some," she retorted with as much of a sneer as she could muster through the haze of the drugs.

The dark chuckle that greeted her, sent a chill up her spine, as one hand squeezed her breasts hard enough to make her wince from the pain. She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her shortly after, as a long knife appeared in his other hand. He dragged it lightly across her skin, down her breastbone, then navel, before quickly flicking it upwards, cutting through her bra. The terrified scream that clawed its way up her throat of its own accord caused him to wince, as she started bucking her hips and struggling against the handcuffs frantically, trying to escape.

"That's it gorgeous, move those hips for me. I think you're over reacting though. Relax, you might even enjoy it," he cooed, lowering his mouth to move over her newly exposed skin.

A sob caught in her throat, and tears pooled in her eyes, hoping more than anything for help to come, but knowing that it was unlikely.

The door slamming against the wall as it was kicked open, and the growl that followed, had both her and her attacker's heads jerking towards the sound. The sob she had held back freed itself as she cried out in blissful relief for the man she hoped she was not hallucinating.

Antonio was on his feet in an instant. "Who the hell are you? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Eliot heard none of this however, as he took in the scene of his wife, chained to a bed, in nothing but her underwear, and the strange man standing in front of him that had been on top of her.

If the man had had any sense of self preservation, he would have taken the darkening of the hitter's eyes as the first sign. The change in Eliot's demeanor as he began walking towards him, as if a lion stalking his prey, would have been the second. But as Antonio apparently lacked this particular ability, he had no chance to react as Eliot dodged his oncoming swing, twisted the knife from his hand, and snapped his neck.

Grabbing the keys out of the dead man's pocket, he had Sarah out of the handcuffs and in his arms seconds later. Gasping sobs escaped her as she clung to him, desperately gripping him as if afraid he would disappear. "I'm here sweetheart. I got you," he assured her, silently giving thanks that he had found her alive.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Eliot woke up the next morning in much the same position he had fallen asleep in; curled up behind Sarah with his arm around her waist and her hand in his.

It had only taken moments the previous night to devise a plan. After wrapping a sheet around Sarah, she had led him to Kerri and the girls last know location. They were all together, drugged and handcuffed to the wall. Eliot had Sarah make a call to the cops, explaining what had happened to her and her friends and where they were. By the time the cops arrived, Eliot had made himself disappear temporarily, watching from across the street, as the cops took the girls' statements and the emts checked them over. A worried call from Sarah had him 'arriving' at the scene ten minutes later, with the story that he knew she was with friends and hadn't suspected anything.

Upon searching the back of the Casino/Hotel for any other possible women, the FBI hit the mother lode. One of the rooms they came upon held records of all Salirno's dealing in the last fifteen years. It didn't help that the girls could positively id him as one of their kidnappers. The FBI now had the proof they had been searching for. He, Sarah and the girls had the pleasure of watching him and his men, being led away in handcuffs.

Jeremy, having been in a meeting with Salirno, and ousted by the man himself as one of his men, stupidly struggled against the cops to get closer to Kerri as he screamed out apologies. Kerri sobbed into the arms of one of her friends and ignored him, as Sarah slowly pulled away from Eliot, walked up to the pathetic man, and cold cocked him as best she could in her current state. If not for the cops holding his arms, he would have been knocked on his ass. Needless to say, there would be no marriage.

After hugs had been exchanged, with a promise to call each other soon, Eliot drove Sarah back to the hotel at her request. No words were spoken as she curled against him while he drove, and he said nothing when she headed straight to the bathroom upon arriving, knowing that she wanted to scrub the last twenty four hours away. It wasn't until she was curled in his arms forty five minutes later; skin sensitive and reddened, that she allowed herself to cry; sobbing into his chest as he curled around her, trying to soothe her as best he could. She eventually cried herself to sleep.

He knew she was awake when her breathing sped up. She quickly tried to jerk away, only to have him turn her around to look him in the face. "It's me sweetheart. You're safe. I've got you," he assured her, knowing that she had briefly forgotten where she was.

"I'm sorry…I thought," she whispered in a cracking voice, pressing herself to his chest.

"I know," he replied.

"I love you El," she murmured, looking up into his eyes. "Thank you for comin' for me."

"I'll always come for you sweetheart," he promised her, leaning down to kiss her forehead lovingly.

Okay, as I see it…Eliot paused only briefly before killin' all the men in that warehouse(even though I know it bothered him), and that was just to get the Italian out so she could burn Moreau. So in my mind, his wife having been kidnapped, beaten, drugged, and sexually assaulted (in any form), would bring that out in him with NO hesitation.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Jen=)