A/N: This is it! I'm sorry the last two chapters ended up being so short...
Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed the story, thanks for reading (and the few reviews I did get )
Chicago, 1919
Upon arriving in America (after a thoroughly uneventful journey on the ship, save for the fact that her trunks were now a bit more richer with diamonds and other expensive jewels), the grifter was determined to truly become the Sophie Devereaux she had invented – the Sophie Devereaux Nate knew her as. Part of that process was finding a play to act in – which had been a dream of Sophie's after all – one written by Shakespeare, to be exact. That was how they had met, after all, and Sophie was sure he would find her eventually. He had found her before, so he would find her again, and this time she wanted to be found. Leaving a trail of figurative breadcrumbs for him, she had eventually found herself in Chicago.
The city had an atmosphere of danger and excitement, always rippling beneath the surface and Sophie had quickly decided to linger for a while. How different this city was to the European ones she was accustomed to, but hand in hand with danger and despair, there was also the feeling of endless possibility that seemed to run in every American's bloodstream.
Chance was on her side, as it turned out, because Sophie did find a Shakespeare role to play, in a seedy little theater, but it was Macbeth, so the less than professional stage and company would have to do. The only thing the grifter had not counted on was that despite Sophie's passion for acting, she did not actually have any talent for it...
.
Painfully aware of the fact that the audience numbers were dwindling with every performance, Sophie had almost given up hope that the play would last long enough (at least with her as Lady Macbeth) for Nate to find her when she stepped out into the dark little alleyway that harbored the theater's stagedoor and heard clapping. While her first thought was that she hadn't heard that sound in a while, realization followed instantly: He had found her after all.
Sophie stepped closer, a smile playing on her lips as he complimented her on her acting. "I'm a honest citizen now," she told him in return with a similar lack of regard for the truth. He roughly explained the situation he had found himself in and made introductions to the rest of his crew. It was easy for her to go along with his banter, ignoring the suspicious looks of the other three and the fact that years had passed since they had last seen each other.
Only later, after Eliot, Parker and Hardison had disappeared into their own little rabbit holes, Nate and Sophie were left alone together, in the company of a bottle of wine.
"You found a Shakespeare play." It was Nate who finally broke the silence, smiling at the rifter over the rim of his glass.
"Of course I did. I'm just sorry it was a tragedy. I much prefer the comedies, myself," she replied, matching his smile with a smirk. Eight years ago she never would have thought she'd find herself sharing a drink with the only man who came that close to catching her, but she was rather glad it had turned out that way.
"I had seen you before we met on the Damascus, you know."
"Really? When was that?"
"I saw you in Prague, two years before. I'm pretty sure you saw me too, don't you remember?"
Sophie furrowed her brow, surprised by this piece of information. Wouldn't she have remembered him? There had been a lot of people she'd met in Prague, and her memory was blurring the faces together. Blue eyes, across the room? Had that been him? she wondered, but shook her head.
"I would have recognized you on the boat," she told him, sounding a lot surer than she really was and with it put an end to this topic of their conversation.
They both fell silent for a while, feeling the weight of too many things unsaid, before Sophie reached out and touched his hand lightly. As their fingers linked, they shared a private smile.
"To new beginnings?"
"To new beginnings."
