A/N: as always, thank you for your reviews and subscriptions. I am sorry this chapter took me so long to write and is so crappy. I had a lot of other stuff going on in my life and some writing to do for the Firefly podcast "The Signal".Btw, evil organic supermarket chain really is opening a store in my hometown in April ... not looking good for the independent little shop where I work. No need to poison our honey, though, they'll just outcompete us with lower prices and a larger assortment. I hate it when life catches up with fiction. And no Eliot Spencer in sight to help us out.


They made it to Annie's Foodbasket in less than five minutes.

"Hardison, did you reach Annie", Nate asked through the earpiece, while they jumped out of the car.

"No, she did not pick up. But the fire department is on its way."

"Annie!", Eliot yelled as he and Nate sprinted towards the door. Suddenly the shop window seemed to bulge outward like an oversized soap bubble. The hitter threw himself sidewards and tackled Nate to the ground covering him with his body.

"Down!"

The force of the explosion made them skid over the asphalt, and a shower of glass rained down on them. Eliot was back on his feet in an instance.

"You okay?" He extended a hand to help his friend up.

Nate nodded.

"Thanks"

Eliot went for the shop entrance, but the heat forced him back before he even reached the door.

"Annie!"

Sirens could be heard in a distance, drawing closer. Nate stepped to Eliot's side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't go in there. Wait for the firemen."

The noise of the blast had almost deafened him and only slowly the loud whistling sound in his ear subsided and he could make out Hardison's and Sophie's frantic voices.

"Yes, Eliot and I are fine", he assured them. "We don't know about Annie, though."

"I'll check round back", Eliot shouted and dashed off through the nearest alleyway that would take him to the back of the house.

He saw her as soon as he rounded the corner. Annie's motionless body lay between the trash cans under a layer of broken tiles, splintered wood and glass shards.

"Oh, come on, Annie, please!" he begged as he fell to his knees beside her, carefully clearing away the biggest pieces of rubble. He reached for her neck to check her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it beating strongly. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Eliot? Wha ... What happened?" She tried to sit up, but Eliot stopped her.

"Easy, baby. Don't move. Let me check you over first."

Annie cleared her throat and turned her head to spit out some dust.

"I think I'm okay", she said, but did not protest or move away when Eliot ran his hands along her limps and torso, carefully feeling for broken bones or other injuries.

"Looks like you are an extremely lucky girl", he said, finally satisfied. "Can you sit up? Slowly!" He steadied her with a hand to her back when she pushed herself to a sitting position.

"What happened?" Annie asked again.

"What do you remember?"

"I ... I closed down for today and then went to take out the trash. Then nothing." She looked around confused.

"So there was no one else in the shop?" Eliot asked.

Annie shook her head, a motion she instantly regretted.

"No. I had locked up already."

"Thank God for that", Eliot said.

Suddenly Annie remembered something.

"What about the others? Are they alright? Did you get to them in time? Is Parker okay?"

Eliot smiled.

"Yes, they are fine. Parker has a black eye, but she is happy as can be because she knocked the guy out herself."

He listened to something in his earbud.

"Hardison wants to know if he should call an ambulance?"

"No! Absolutely not. I'm fine!" Annie hurried to say. Eliot looked sceptical.

"Can he hear me?", she asked. The hitter nodded. " Hardison! I'm fine. No ambulance", she burst out.

"You don't need to shout", Eliot explained. "He can hear you fine."

"Sorry"

Annie sorted out her legs and began to stand up. With Eliot's help she managed to get to her feet. He supported her while they carefully made their way around the building.

The fire truck had arrived at the scene and the firemen were busy extinguishing the fire in the store. Nate, who had been talking to a police officer, came over when he saw them.

"Annie, where was the bomb when it went off?" he wanted to know.

She looked at him confused.

"Bomb? You mean, there was a bomb in my shop?"

"What did you think it was?" Eliot asked.

"Actually, I haven't been thinking about it at all. I was kind of busy flying into the trash cans. How do you know it was a bomb?"

"It was hidden in the bag of groceries that guy with the baseball cap left. He was the one who hit Parker."

"He works for Farnham", Nate explained.

"No way ... the nice guy with the pregnant wife? I don't believe that. Are you sure?"

"Afraid so", Eliot confirmed. "He made that story up so that he could leave the bag with the bomb. And I fell for it."

He grimaced.

Annie did not react to that. She just stared at the remains of her shop, the front ripped open like a gaping wound, the shelves charred or broken and whatever had been spared by the blast and the fire was now getting destroyed by a mixture of soot and water from the fire hoses. She felt her knees buckle and her legs failed her. She would have fallen had Eliot not grabbed her in time.

"Hey!"

"Why don't you sit down for a bit?" Nate asked, and both men carefully steered her towards the Tesla where she thankfully sank to the passenger seat.

"My shop", she said in a small voice. "It's gone."

"I'm so sorry", Eliot said. "I shouldn't have left. It's my fault."

"No", Nate cut in, his voice sharp. "It isn't. It's Farnham's fault. And Mr Baseball Cap's. Not yours."

"But if I had stayed I could have done something."

"Yeah, you probably would have taken out the trash ... and what good would that have done me?" Annie said. "Or you would have been in the shop while I took out the trash and been blown to pieces. As much as I enjoy your company, I'm quite glad you weren't there."

Eliot didn't know what to reply to that. He still felt like he should have done something to prevent this.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked after a while.

"Nothing. Farnham won, didn't he? The shop is gone. There is no way I can reopen it any time soon. Even if I get compensation from my fire insurance, which I seriously doubt. Do they pay for bombs? I don't think so. It will take month to settle this. It's over. And besides, I would not want anyone to get hurt in this. If I had known that Farnham would be so ruthless, I'd have just given in." Annie started to sob.

"Don't" Eliot said and squatted down beside her, pulling her into an embrace. "Don't give up. We'll find a way to get back at Farnham." He looked at Nate. "Won't we?"

"It's what we do", Nate said simply.