He stared down at the envelope he now had sitting on the counter in front of him. The test results he had received only two days ago but hid them away so he wouldn't have to deal with it,so he wouldn't have to accept the fact that he had another child. It had been nearly thirteen hours,thirteen long hours since Claire had been taken and all they could do was wait. Hardison and Parker had left to get some rest but the hacker was still waiting for the sign that she had turned her com back on. Eliot was downstairs at the bar keeping an eye on the laptop,and Sophie,Sophie was resting upstairs. Looking towards the stairs Nate sighed quietly as he grabbed the envelope making his way towards the stairs,the climb seemed longer then it normally would but once he reached the top a smile formed on his lips. She was wearing one of his shirts,and she had been holding tight on to his pillow. She seemed so broken,so hurt even if she was asleep he could read it all over her face. Taking his shoes off he made his way over to the bed laying the envelope down on the nightstand. He moved almost strategically,as he took the pillow from her he laid down next to her bringing his arms around her.
Almost instinctively the grifter moved closer to him. She felt safe,but she was still missing that part of her that had been taken when Claire had been kidnapped again. Opening her eyes she stared at him,she could see that something was bothering him but for now,she didn't want to talk,she just wanted him to hold her,to tell her everything was going to be okay. She ran her hand over his cheek and the thought that he needed to shave made her smile light,he saw that smile too, he didn't think he would see a hint of a smile until Claire was back but there it was.
"What?" He asked keeping his voice low.
"You need to shave,you're all scruffy." A smile passes her lips again but soon fades as Claire crosses her mind again.
"We're going to get her back." He says pulling her closer to him as she nods. "I have something to show you."
"What is it?" She stares at him with questioning eyes as he reaches back to the nightstand grabbing the envelope.
"I got this two days ago,I didn't want to know,Sophie. I didn't want to accept the fact that this kid has been out there the whole time and I didn't know." He hands the envelope to her as she sits up to look at it.
"Do you want to open it?" As much as she wants to know,deep down she knows they both already know the answer.
"No." He says as he sits up taking the envelope from her. Taking a final look at it he tears it up tossing the pieces of paper onto the night stand.
"Nate I .." Was all Sophie could manage to say,she was confused,she didn't understand.
"As far as I'm concerned,our daughter is out there some where and right now she needs us." A smile passes his lips as she stares at him in shock.
"Nate! Sophie! The Com is on! Get down here!" Eliot yells as he rushes into the apartment. The two stare at each other for a few seconds before they are both down the stairs.
Eliot does what Hardison had told him to got the GPS location tracking on the screen as Hardison and Parker rushed into the apartment but stopped looking at the shirt Sophie had been wearing.
"Are you wearing.. never mind man. If it stays on we can hear her." Hardison began tapping away on his keyboard as the others looked on.
"Dad? Can you hear me,are you there?" Claire's voice was quiet and hushed.
"I'm here Claire,are you okay?" Nate asks the girl as Sophie moves closer to him for support.
"I'm fine,is mom there?" The girl asks,they could all hear the fear in her voice as Hardison tracks the signal.
"I'm here sweetheart,do you know where you are?"
Claire looks around the room she is in but it's dark. "No,it's dark though,I can hear water and the traffic isn't as loud as before. I'm scared."
"Don't worry,your mom and I are going to find you alright?" Nate tells the girl as he wraps an arm around Sophie.
"I'm s-sorry,for acting the way I did,I know you were doing what was right for me." They could hear her voice breaking and knew now that she was crying.
"Sweetheart,close your eyes,imagine we are there with you,holding you tight. Nothing can hurt you when you think about us." Sophie said softly.
"Someone's coming." she said turning the com off as a man opened the door throwing a bag with food and water in the room then closing the door again plunging the twelve year old back into darkness.
She pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes tight trying to do what Sophie told her to. She misses them,the Maxwell's treated her like a daughter and she thought it was love that was coming from them but it was all material things,with Nate and Sophie it was different,she felt love,kindness and understanding. Even from Eliot and the others,she felt like she was family and she was missing that feeling.
"Hardison?" Sophie asked the hacker who hung his head in defeat.
"So close man,so damn close. It cut me off two seconds before I got a location on her."
"Can we at least get a general location?" Nate asked moving towards the screens.
"Yeah man,the signal is bouncing around down by the water,by the Pier."
"They can not be stupid enough to take her to the same warehouse." Eliot said catching on to what Nate had been thinking.
"No,we need to talk to this Baxter guy and find out what he wants with my daughter." All eyes turned to Nate.
He had come to the realization that this was his daughter,after hearing her call him dad it woke him up and shook him into reality. He refused to loose another child,especially not one he just found out about.
"Is she going to be okay?" Parker asks looking from the mastermind to the grifter who both nodded.
"As long as they think she has vital information they won't hurt her or do anything to her until they get the information out of her." Nate said looking to Sophie who began to head back upstairs,the whole ordeal was beginning to wear on her.
"If they hurt her man." Eliot growled before Nate shook his head.
"If they hurt her,they will be making the biggest mistake of their lives."
The three stood quiet,what they saw in Nate's eyes scared them all,it was something that mixed with the look he had in his eyes when the con spun out of control when they decided to take on the Maltese Falcon,but the look was darker,like he was willing to do what he had to,to get Claire back and that scared them even more. They watched as he turned and headed up the stairs,the three of them also took note of how close he and Sophie had gotten. Eliot was worried what exactly it was that he was willing to do,he knew he had to keep an eye on the mastermind to make sure he didn't do anything he regretted.
"Anyone else sensing the end of the world and impending doom?" Hardison asked finally looking away from the stairs.
"I do." Parker said quietly as Eliot kept his gaze on those stairs.
Upstairs he stopped to watch Sophie,he could see she was crying just by the way she was shaking. Closing his eyes he moved to the bed joining her once again. Moving the blankets he pulled her to him bringing the blankets back around them. Sophie not being able to control her tears hid her face against his chest as he ran his fingers through her soft her and over her back soothingly.
"Shh,it's okay. I'm here." He said softly
"I don't know how much more I can take of this,I want her back." Sophie says pulling away from his chest so she could see his eyes.
Moving closer to her,their lips are just inches apart. He could feel her breath brushing against his lips,as he closes the space bringing their lips together briefly.
"Believe me when I say,I will get her back,no matter what it takes." He whispers after another kiss.
"I just want her home." She says as she moves closer,as close as humanly possible. Sleep was already taking her over,she was exhausted from the worry and empty filling of not having Claire there.
The room where they were keeping Claire was dark and cold,she could see her breath but she heard voices outside the door.
"Where is she?"
"In the room sir."
"Well what the hell is she doing in there,get her out of there and treat her like a princess!"
"Y-Yes sir."
The door open and the light hurts her eyes. A hand grabs her arm and pulls her out of the room.
"Let me go slime-ball!" She yells as she is pushed in front of another man she recognizes right away. "Trevor Baxter?" she asks as the man nods.
"Sorry my boys were mean to you,is there anything you want or need Princess?" He asked through a faked smile.
"Yeah to go home to my mom and dad!" She yells as tears begin to form in her eyes.
"Oh Princess,you're parents were shot remember?"
"Those two were not my parents,I want my mom and dad!"
Confused he looked at his men. "What the hell is she talking about?"
The men all looked confused as well."We don't know sir."
"Who are your parents then kid?" Claire stares Trevor down not saying a word.
"Sir when we grabbed her she was with a group of people,a man was chasing us,she yelled out the names 'Nate and Eliot'. When she yelled 'Dad' one of the men reacted to it." The man offered a smile
"Well what did he look like?" Trevor asked grabbing the man by his shirt.
"L-Like the man that had been helping her parents."
"Do you have a name?"
"Uh.. I-I can't remember sir."
"Since you can't remember important details then you are no use to me then are you?" Trevor nods to one of his men who pulled a gun out pointing it at the other man.
"No! Sir wait I-" was the last thing he said before a shot rang out and Claire screamed covering her eyes.
"Oh princess,get use to it,you will be seeing more of that around her,make yourself at home." He pushed her towards a room.
The room was painted pink and white,with books a big bed and bars on every window. When the door locked behind her she went to quick work trying all the windows trying to get out but it was no use,she couldn't get out. She knew she would be stuck there until her rescue.
Nate watched Sophie as she slept. He was worried about Claire and he knew that she was relying on him to get her home safely. He could hear Eliot and the others down stairs moving about and talking,waiting for some other signal from Claire. He sighed as he ran his hand gentle over the soft and smooth skin of the grifter's arm. His life was repeatedly being turned upside down and he felt like he was loosing his grip on keeping calm.
"Stop thinking." She said quietly pulling him from his thoughts.
"Sorry." He said looking down to her as she closed her eyes again.
"Tell me she is going to be fine." her voice a whisper.
"Darling,she is going to be fine." She opens her eyes again when he calls her 'darling'. but soon closes her eyes again letting the sound of his breathing lull her back to sleep."She has to be." He says quietly keeping his hold on her as he hopes she will be okay and they won't hurt her.
[And an end to chapter 7,I hope you enjoyed this and thanks for the reviews so far,you guys keep me writing!]
