A/N: Hiya! Please don't hate me for not posting in literally like two months! :( I'm very sorry but I've had mocks and exams and evil teachers screaming at me. I hate Year 11. So very much. Anyhoo... I hope you like the chapter it's extra special long just for you guys and a huge THANK YOU! to everyone who has reviewed my story, your opinions are much appreciated! :D Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage. Wish I did, but I don't. Then there would be an episode a day and it would never ever be cancelled. Ever.


Anna looked in the mirror, her plaits were slightly looser than they had been when Sophie had plaited them, but all in all they looked fine. Hardison tilted up the rear view mirror so he could see Anna rather than Anna seeing Anna. "You sorted?" Hardison asked.

"Done now." Anna said, she smiled excitedly. "Let's do this." Hardison rolled forwards in the Maybach they had… acquired from a parking lot somewhere. Who knew people in Boston drove Maybachs?

"You do know this is just the set-up for the actual play, right?" Sophie said, smiling at Anna's enthusiasm.

She nodded even more enthusiastically, even though Sophie had no idea how you could possibly be more enthusiastic than she already was. "This is my favourite bit, don't ruin my moment." Anna said, relaxing into her seat. Hardison stopped the car slowly and waited. Why weren't they getting out?

Anna tapped Hardison on the shoulder. "This is generally the part where the chauffeur lets out the car." Hardison turned round.

"How about you let your damn self outta the car? Why do I gotta do everything round here?" Hardison asked, he did feel kind of picked on.

"Etiquette, Hardison. Now get off your butt and let me and Sophie out of the car." Anna said, in a perfect British accent.

"Okay, Miss Demanding. I'm getting on it." Hardison huffed and frowned and sulked but he eventually got out of his seat and opened Anna's door.

"Perfect." Anna commented, smiling.

"What do you mean, perfect? I just called you demanding, kid and-" Hardison said, still confused.

"That's what I'm going for." Hardison nodded. "Demanding and bored out of my mind." Anna said as she swung her legs out of the car. Hardison gave Anna a hand up and she brushed down her dress. "Don't forget to be British." Anna whispered. Her voice grew slightly louder for her last comment: "Thanks, Carl."

"Carl? I am gonna kill you! I'm-" Hardison whispered, still very American and very grumpy.

"Just get Sophie out the car and drive around the block until I call you." Anna said, clearly smiling at the fact that she had all the power for the time being.

Hardison pulled out his British accent and smiled at her, "Sure thing, Miss Elizabeth. See you in a jiffy."

"Thanks again Carl." Anna teetered round to Sophie's door, followed by Hardison.


Mark Danver looked out of his window; he watched a car pulling up 20 stories below him. A young blonde girl wearing a pleated skirt and a cable-knit jumper and a woman with dark brown hair and one of the most expensive dresses he'd ever seen outside of an event stepped out of the posh car and walked towards his office's main door. "Who's that?" Danver asked. His bumbling assistant, Jenkins, turned round to face him. Jenkins wasn't scared of Danver exactly, just wary of his... outbursts. "Well, then?" Danver said impatiently.

"Oh, yes sir. Well, yes sir. There's a slight hitch, sir." Jenkins rambled to himself.

"Spit it out, man." Danver said, getting increasingly impatient.

"We don't know, sir. But they look mighty rich, sir." Jenkins mumbled. Danver turned away from the window and glared at him. What earth had he ever hired him?

"Well don't just stand there, man! Do something! Find out!" Danver snapped, Jenkins nodded and backed out of the office before Danver changed his mind.


"Are they buying it?" Nate asked inside Anna's ear. The comms thing was freaking her out a bit; everything was weird enough without people living inside her head.

"Yeah, Danver's getting all flustered about something and he's staring at me." Anna tried to remain calm and bit her tongue before she ended up revealing that unsettling feeling in her stomach that she knew him.

Sophie smiled and then frowned. The girl was good. Almost too good. She'd managed to look up at the window without anyone, including Sophie herself, noticing whilst still managing to work out who the tiny figure in the window was.

Sophie stumbled right on cue and Anna could practically feel Danver smiling. Rich ill people were his 'thing' apparently. Anna grabbed Sophie's arm just in time and smiled at her warmly, Sophie smiled back and for a moment Anna forgot this was an act and hoped beyond hope that she could have a mother like Sophie. A real mother who cared. Anna was attempting to tread lightly and not get too involved, especially after what happened at The Corner, but the long con had always intrigued her as a much more eloquent way of stealing and she'd let herself be pulled in. Anna didn't want to think about what would happen if it all went wrong, it hardly ever happened to guys as good as this, right?

Nate scruffed up his hair, pulled at his oversized jacket and trundle round the corner swigging beer from a bottle. Except what he was drinking didn't taste anything like the beer that should have been inside it, in fact it tasted distinctly like… blackcurrant squash. Clearly Anna thought his 'method acting' wasn't a good idea. "Hold it, Nate. Danver hasn't even come out for lunch yet." Anna warned; she was ever so slightly on-edge about the whole thing as she was terrified of letting everyone down. Like last time.

"I can see that, Anna. I'm just setting the scene. Now you do what you do, Anna." Nate said, hoping his sudden lack of a vocabulary had made any sense. The reason he'd lost most of his vocabulary was mainly down to Sophie, and to be specific: her dress. It was… well, stunning. Sophie permanently had that 'I just walked out of a salon' look about her but those dresses set her apart from any girl Nate had ever met. So, Nate had a schoolboy crush on Sophie, but honestly, every guy did a little bit; that was her job. There would be something wrong if he didn't fancy her. Well, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Right, 'doing what I do'." Anna coughed slightly and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, she thought to herself. "Mum. I'm bored." Anna whined perfectly. All those years of failed auditions had finally paid off. For the first time, Nate heard her voice out loud inside of in his comms, she wasn't louder; she could just be heard better, picked out of a crowd more easily.

"Elizabeth, sweetheart, we have to be here." Sophie said, in one of those 'I'm trying not to be condescending here' voices. Anna sighed, the name Elizabeth was so much nicer than her own; it could be shortened to girly names like Lizzy, posh names like Eliza or more down-to-earth names like Beth. But here she was stuck with 'Anna'. Anna couldn't be shortened, changed or personalised in any way and it was just so… naff.

"I know, but it's so bloody boring." Sophie and Anna had had a conversation about American ideas about British people and after getting past the 'drinking tea with the Queen' stage they'd decided that apart from the accent British people could be distinguished in conversation by their use of 'bloody' and 'bollocks' because those were just so British. Apparently.

"Language!" Sophie squealed, which made Nate and Anna repress a laugh as Sophie never squealed about anything. Except certain person's cheekbones, but they didn't mention that.

"Sorry." Anna said, in a typical teenager 'I don't actually feel sorry but I thought I'd say it anywa' type of way.

"Thank you." Sophie said curtly. Anyone listening in, and there were quite a few, could tell she didn't mean it any more than Anna what she had said. The people listening in were trying to act nonchalantly but were easily picked out for being slightly too interested in something just beyond Sophie and Anna and having a strange desire to strain to listen for the pigeons singing.

"I really don't know why you dragged me all the way from London to Boston so we can open a will that Dad already orchestrated to fit around him just to be disappointed and return home." Anna complained, Sophie noticed Anna deviation from what they had discussed but she went along with it, sure that Anna or Nate would reel it in.

"Out of respect for your grandmother!" By this point, Anna and Sophie had stopped walking and had started a full out argument (well, as full out as the British get, anyway), attracting the interest of a quite a few people, hopefully including Danver himself. Otherwise this would just be a useless social experiment into to how people react to British people arguing outside of office blocks.

"I never even met my grandmother, thanks to your wonderful choice in men!" Anna shouted, for some reason she was enjoying this. She'd never actually had a shouting match with anyone before. Ever. Anna concentrated on Sophie's look of disgust. She was an amazing actress, Anna's heart skipped a beat momentarily as for a moment she forgot that Sophie was just acting.

"Excuse me missy!" Sophie shrieked, Anna winced and suddenly she wasn't 'acting' anymore. It clicked. She understood why 'Elizabeth' was so annoyed at her mum and why her mum was reacting like she was. Maybe this was what a long con did to people, Anna wasn't sure. "You will not speak to your mother in that way!"

"You're not my mother! She died! You're a replacement!" Well, if anyone hadn't been listening in on the conversation, they certainly were now. A replacement mother? How scandalous! People would talk about anything given the chance.

"Elizabeth!" Sophie's voice was shrill but still terrifying. Anna hated being shouted at but she knew that 'Elizabeth' loved the attention and that 'Elizabeth' would fight back.

Sophie momentarily glanced into the lobby and saw Danver concentrating hard on their conversation. She began to whisper inaudibly but Hardison's awesome earpiece meant that Anna heard every single word. "Nate, I can see him in the lobby. Time to make your move."

"Here we go. Time to be drunk." Nate said through the comms, his words already slurring despite the distinct lack of alcohol in his squash.

"Again." Sophie muttered, momentarily forgetting about the comms.

"Thank you, Sophie." Anna spotted Nate in the reflection of a shop window and shivered; he looked like a wreck. Suddenly Nate's drunken slur got much worse and Nate forgot how to walk in a straight line. "Annabella! Elizabeth! How are you two fine ladies today?" He said, attracting the attention of everyone around him. Anna wondered if being nosy was a requirement of being in this square.

"Oh god, not again. Daniel, go away!" Sophie huffed to herself. Now the bystanders were beginning to perk up, the snappy British mum knew the drunken guy? How interesting!

"What happened to 'Danny'? You haven't called me Daniel in years!" Nate's drunken state was alarmingly realistic although Anna vaguely remembered Parker mentioning her go-to-guy being a drunken mastermind.

"I haven't seen you in years!" Sophie retorted. Anna wondered how they managed to seamlessly connect their arguments, playing off each other like they had been training for the conversation all their lives.

"Where's the Annie that used to be so happy? So free? So pretty?" Nate teased. I knew how this was supposed to go, but I was almost 100% sure that Nate wouldn't stick to the script. He didn't seem like the rules type. True to form, he slapped Sophie's arse. Sophie jolted forward and Anna couldn't quite determine how much of Sophie's disgusted face was acting and how much was Sophie's real horror about what Nate had done. Anna knew that somewhere, Hardison and Eliot were having a hard time keeping a straight face. Nate grabbed Anna's shoulder in a kind of jokey guy-to-guy way and 'Elizabeth' wasn't having any of it. "I bet she's a complete bore, huh?" He joked. Anna scowled.

"Get. Off." She wasn't over-the-top or snappy or demanding, in fact she was rather quiet. Quiet but insistent. Anna shrugged Nate's hand off her shoulder, just for him to replace it moments later, gripping tighter. "I said; get off!" Anna shouted, she would never admit it but she was just a teensy bit terrified.

"Elizabeth," Nate said condescendingly, "don't say you don't miss your favourite dad?" Anna fumed, she wanted to kick him.

"Favourite? I've only had one pathetic excuse for a dad and he's standing right in front of me. So, it you don't mind-" Anna wrenched Nate's hand off her shoulder and pulled it down, clearly pulling his shoulder in a less-than-comfortable direction. And then, without really thinking about it, Anna slapped him. Hard. Nate winced and stepped back, grabbing his cheek.

"That's my girl!" Eliot said in the comms, and Anna had to bite her lip so she didn't smile.

"Get! Out!" Anna shouted much louder than intended. "Bloody hell, Daniel! Do you want Carl to punch your face in?" Anna was on a roll, barely thinking about what she was saying.

"Say no!" Hardison said. Anna tried not to laugh and his hilarious outburst. "I do not wanna get out my car! I like the comfy seats!" Nate cocked his head ever so slightly as if considering Hardison's comment.

"Well, haven't you got some bite!" Nate said, Hardison sighed audibly at Nate's decision. "Look, I'm backing off." Nate took a step back and almost tripped over his own fit. Anna noted just how good he was at being drunk, almost too good. "See you at Granny's funeral, Annie!" Nate shouted as he wandered off in anything but a straight line, hitting on every single girl on the way.

Danver decided to make his move, the woman was clearly in an emotional state, perfect for slipping her the idea that she wanted to give him all her money. That girl, she would be a problem. An inconvenience at most.

Anna glanced at Danver who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "I think I'm going to be sick." She remarked quietly to no one in particular. For a moment, she expected Parker to say something hilariously deadpan or something hyperactive. But she didn't. She might not ever again.

"Why?" Sophie asked, Anna looked up out of her daze and sighed.

"His happy face makes me want to puke." Anna said. Sophie couldn't help noticing how much of Anna was like Parker, she could imagine Parker saying what Anna had just said and everyone just thinking that that was just Parker.

"Excuse me, miss?" Danver said, walking up behind them and instantly turning on the charm. Anna glanced at Sophie with a cheeky smile all over her face that dropped the moment she turned round. They were in business. "Are you okay?" For a corrupt corporate, he had wonderful manners, Anna mused to herself.

"We're fine, sir." Anna forced the words out between her teeth, thinking about all those times Parker had said exactly the same thing in exactly the same way.

"That's it, Anna, don't fall too quickly. For the record, Sophie you've fallen, landed brushed yourself off and written him a cheque." Nate said, Anna wasn't quite sure if it was a compliment or not, it was slightly back-handed and Nate didn't seem like the complimenting type.

"Who was that?" Danver gestured to the direction Nate had hobbled off. Anna assumed he'd found his way back to Lucille without falling over.

"My-" Sophie began. Anna knew that cutting her off wasn't exactly the plan, but 'Elizabeth' decided it was a good idea.

"No one, sir." Anna kept adding 'sir' to the end of her phrase but it was forced, which was probably ruder than no 'sir' at all. Just how Anna liked it.

"You're one tough cookie, aren't you?" Danver teased. Anna gave a quick glance at Sophie, should she run into his arms? Should she stay strong? She knew she had to pose a threat but not too big of a threat. How big was too big? Danver offered her his disposable coffee cup. "Here, have my hot chocolate. I didn't want it anyway." Anna knew that that hot chocolate had been bought for her; it was supposed to melt her heart. Giving in would happen sooner or later, and 'Elizabeth' (and Anna) really wanted that hot chocolate.

Anna took the cup out of his hands and it warmed her hands as she gripped it. She took a sip and smiled, aware of the cute little chocolate moustache she was sporting. That was some amazing hot chocolate, like the type you get in Belgium where they simply melt their finest chocolate into some hot milk. "Thanks, Mr-?" Anna was hoping Danver would take the hint and finish her sentence for her.

"Danver. Mark Danver." Danver said, feeling very James Bond. Anna didn't see why American found that phrase so appealing, and anyway it only worked in a British RP accent.

"Thanks, Mr Danver." Anna couldn't resist taking another gulp from the amazing hot chocolate Danver had given her. "That was the provider of my second X chromosome. He's horrible. We moved out when I was five or something. Annie's not even my real mum, not that you'd know it, the way she looks after me." Anna turned to smile at Sophie, who smiled back. Anna almost forgot that the smile was a fake. Just a cover story.

"Any time like the present, Sophie." Nate reminded us of why we were actually there and, slightly belatedly, Sophie coughed and stumbled. Anna rushed to grab her, whilst Danver just stood there, looking faintly amused.

"Are you okay, Miss-?" Sophie noticed that Danver used exactly the same phrasing to ask her name as Anna did to ask his. Either he wasn't very good at being original or he was copying their speech patterns to make them at ease with themselves. Maybe he wasn't such an idiot… or maybe he was.

"Annie Lovegood." Anna filled in for Sophie who was still attempting to fake wheeze and cough without making herself sick (on one of her first cons she'd found out the hard way that too much fake coughing makes you wretch). "I'm Elizabeth." Anna paused trying to try to think of the right words, even though she already knew how this was going to go. "She, um, well, she's really ill and it's-" Anna paused as if she could say the next few words out loud without choking up. "It's not getting any better."

"Oh, really?" Anna noticed that Danver was trying to speak with concern, but he let slip a grin that signalled that he thought he'd hit the jackpot. He probably would have if Annie and Elizabeth Lovegood existed.

"Um, yeah." Anna realised that 'Elizabeth' had finally given in to this man's *ahem* charm and that she should probably just stick with that feeling for the time being.

"She seems pretty ill, how about you come inside and grab a glass of water or something?" Danver asked, attempting to slip the idea in nonchalantly and not failing at it. Well, not failing at it too much.

"Thank you." Sophie said, smiling and standing slightly straighter. Anna looked at her confused, wasn't there supposed to be some argument now or something?

"Mum?" Anna looked at Sophie, expecting some hidden explanation.

"Elizabeth, he's a sweet man, let him be nice." Sophie explained, although Anna didn't see it as a particularly helpful explanation. However Sophie was glaring ever so slightly, so Anna let it slide, confident that Sophie had everything under control.

Danver grinned, "Thank you, Miss Lovegood. Now, if you would like to follow me."


A/N: Did we like? Hope so! Side note: British RP means British Received Pronunciation, so basically BBC English or the Queen's English. Yet again, my Britishness is getting in the way of a (hopefully) good story! Quick question: Am I the only person who hasn't watched The Long Goodbye Job yet because if they haven't seen it then Leverage hasn't technically finished yet? Is that just me?

TTFN! Ta-ta for now! (That's a Tigger quote for those of you silly people who didn't know that!)