A/N – Second to last chapter. I apologize if this doesn't have enough action for you. Turns out, I kinda suck at complicated "job" stuff, so I changed my course. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Last chapter will be up immediately after this one.. just separating them for neatness.

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Eliot called Nate as he went to his car, shaking his head minutely at Sophie on the way, telling her to stay where she was, talking to the nurses. She appeared baffled for a moment but stayed in character, friendly smile in place. Once in the quiet of the car, Eliot explained his call to Nate.

"Nate. I was going through the patient files in the ER in the last six months. Seems Amanda shows up in an unusual amount of deaths, even for an ER. I'd say 75% of the deaths with her name attached were caused by sudden cardiac arrest. Not sure we can call that a coincidence."

"No," Nate agreed, softly, "I'm going to have to call you back. Don't forget the milk."

Nate closed the phone as he opened the office door and stepped aside, an irate Bill Smith towering the doorway.

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"Son of a bitch!" Eliot cursed, recognizing the obvious code for help. Growling to himself, and filling Sophie in through their comms, he sped off towards the office.

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Eliot slipped in the office door silently, Parker would be proud. Or maybe offended. It was hard to tell with her. Hand hovering over the knife at his waist, he made his way slowly to the kitchen, where he could hear low voices. He stopped short at what he saw. Bill Smith sat on one of the kitchen stools, looking damn near dead. Nate was in the middle of pouring two healthy glasses of whisky when he noticed Eliot. He shrugged, suggesting there was no danger but stick around anyway. Eliot wondered why Nate hadn't called, and why he didn't have his comm in, but his questions would have to wait. Bill seemed to be finishing up what must have been a long story. He drank half the whisky Nate offered him in one gulp. Eliot knew he'd regret that soon, rough as he looked, but kept his opinion to himself.

"And so I caught her one night. Don't know exactly what she did, but she injected something in the IV, and next thing I know, the kid was flat lining and she just walked away. She came back in a few minutes, with the other nurses, and watched him die. She didn't see me in the hall. I confronted her later, at home, asked her what she'd gotten herself into. Told her we'd get out of it somehow, no matter what it was. But she just, she went crazy. Threatened me with a cleaver! And she could have done it too, I saw it in her eyes. She could have stabbed me right there. But Maddy was just a few feet away, and I didn't want to scare her, so I just let Amanda threaten. She sliced me, here on my neck, but it wasn't enough to cause damage. But I knew I needed to take Maddy and get out. I planned to, after Amanda went to bed, but I didn't get the chance. Didn't know a frying pan could actually knock somebody out, but when I woke up, I knew." Stopping momentarily to breathe and drink the rest of his whiskey, Bill began again.

"Long story short, she left me for dead in the middle of the woods, she thought I was, but I was just out cold. It took me days to get back here and recover enough to track her down. And now you tell me she's dead. Mandy didn't take drugs. I'm sure it was those Russians she was working for that killed her. I heard them talking, they helped her bring me to the woods. Thought I was dead too. I don't even know what they were getting out of their arrangement. "

"Money," Nate supplied, "Probably insurance fraud. We have some unfortunate experience in the area."

Bill nodded wearily, "Alright. Well, whatever it was, they're long gone now. But they did something at the hospital. Scared everybody I think, that's why they don't talk about us at all. Everything is so screwed up. A week ago I had a loving family. Now my wife is dead, after she tried to kill me, my mother in law will never believe me, and I haven't seen my little girl in far too long. Mr. Ford, please let me see my daughter."

Nate nodded, "Of course. I'll make the call."

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"Daddy!" Madison squealed in delight at the sight of her father. Bill's face lit up with such love, not even Parker was unaffected. She smiled, somewhat sadly, at the reunion. She'd grown attached to the sweet girl. Hardison wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders in commiseration, he'd miss Maddy too. Much to Sophie's amusement, and Nate's befuddlement, Eliot growled involuntarily at the sight, though Hardison appeared not to notice. Nate cast Sophie an inquisitive glance but she merely mouthed, "later." He grinned, a genuine smile, and Sophie couldn't help but smile back. Things between them weren't great yet, but they were getting better.

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The next day at the office, Eliot grumbled about the whole job being a letdown. He hadn't even gotten the chance to fight.

"You bitching about not getting beat up?" Hardison asked in disbelief. When Eliot smirked in response, he just shook his head, "There's something wrong with you." Eliot and Parker laughed simultaneously, causing Hardison to shake his head again.

"That. That right there. That is just weird. You two… the earth is definitely doomed." But they paid him no mind.

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Sophie found Nate on the balcony, surprisingly no drink in hand. He grasped the railing, staring off into the sunset. He turned as she walked forward, more instinct than will, but unavoidable nonetheless.

"It's been a strange job." Sophie commented softly, leaving the subject open for Nate to take in any direction.

"That is has. We didn't do much. We couldn't even save Amanda." He shook his head sadly.

"Nate, nobody could have save her! She sealed her own fate by dealing with those awful people. The important thing is that we kept Madison safe. And reunited her with her father."

Nate shook his head, "We didn't even need to protect Madison. She would've been fine with the grandmother. We should never have been involved."

"Oh, Nate. Always the pessimist. Perhaps we didn't do much for Madison, but look what she's done for us! For Parker, especially. I've never seen that girl so human as when she was with Madison. If I didn't know her, I'd swear she actually was her mother. You're always saying Parker needs to deal with routine civil activities, and that's just what she did. And she did it well."

Nate smiled thoughtfully, "You're right. Maybe Parker was the job this time."

"Now of course, we have to deal with Parker and Eliot, of all people, which should prove interesting. Still, it's rather exciting, isn't it?" Sophie laughed in real delight.

Nate groaned slightly, "It will never be dull. Hardison is right, the earth is definitely doomed. I can only imagine the trouble those two can get into together."

Sophie smiled slyly, gaze drifting in thought, "Yes. But I'll bet the sex is unbelievable!"

Nate stood speechless, long after Sophie walked away laughing. Clever, sexy, evil woman. God, how he loved her.

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Hardison rushed home to be in his apartment alone for the first time in a week. Nate and Sophie left one after each other for their own homes. Parker and Eliot walked to their cars together, fingers brushing against each other occasionally, but not holding hands. Leaving Parker at her car, Eliot walked to his, getting in and absolutely not jumping when he saw Parker sitting beside him. He didn't even bother asking how she had gotten there, or how she had gotten there so fast. It was just something you accepted with her.

"Take me home with you. We can talk. Eventually." A wicked grin spread across her face.

Eliot gulped. The woman had a way of making him feel jittery that he was quickly becoming addicted to.

"Yes Ma'am," he responded, praying he made it to his place without crashing. He caught his breath as she reached across his lap, and exhaled sharply when she clicked his seatbelt in place.

"Safety first," Parker stated, completely serious.

Eliot grinned, "Too late for that, Darlin'. Not that I mind." Thing was, neither did she.

TBC

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Ok folks, that's pretty much it. Just the required sappiness ending left in the next chapter.