The next day, the team came by for a visit to make sure Eliot and Raelyn really did fare okay after their sugar-coated misadventure. Raelyn and Eliot put on their practiced smiles and went through the day. Sophie couldn't stay long because she had rehearsal, and Parker was distracted with a repelling rig she was working and disappeared into the backyard to work in peace. They all had their workaholic moments. Nate and Eliot found themselves in the kitchen with coffee.

Raelyn, wanting to avoid being in the same room as her father, stalked into the living room. Inconspicuously, Hardison followed. "What'd you do?"

"What do you mean?" Raelyn asked warily.

"You have the limp of someone who got their butt whooped and you and your dad seem too damn pissed at each other for this to be just work-related."

She flinched. "We were arguing, things got heated, and I took a swing at him."

Hardison howled. "Wow. Something tells me, you came up lucky."

"Not my smartest move, I'll admit."

"What was the fight about?"

"Work."

"Of course."

"He wants me to stop, and I...disagree."

"He's just-"

She turned on him and got in his face, "If one more person says he's just trying to protect me, they're going to need the protection!"

He put his hands up defensively. "Hey, girl, hey. It's the truth."

"It's bullshit. I don't need protection. Not the kind he thinks."

"I want to disagree with you. I saw your arm."

She slumped in defeat. "That's aftermath. He gets hurt all the time. I've seen a lot more scars than you have." She rose in a tirade. "I've needed a few bandages here and there, but I've never needed help getting my job done. I do my job. Cuts, bruises, broken bones, but I've never had to be rescued. Not from a job gone wrong."

"He yells at us, too."

"What?"

As if on cue, raised voices were heard from the kitchen. Well, one voice, Eliot's. "See?The four of us, we've all gotten ourselves in some pretty tight spots. And he will hurl profanities every time he has to fix it."

"But he fixes it, and he yells, but he doesn't try to take away your entire career."

"Point taken. But he works with us. You're out there alone."

"So was he."

"He's not anymore." She groaned, lost on how to explain. He sat down and gestured for her to join him. She did so gingerly. "Maybe it'd help if you didn't shut him out."

"I'm not trying to shut him out. He made it clear a long time ago, he didn't want to hear about it."

"Presentation. Don't tell it like a war story. That's going to scare him. Ask for suggestions, advice." He waved his hands in a dramatic, flourishing gesture.

"I don't need advice. I've handled it all just fine." She crossed her arms defiantly.

"Now I know that ain't true." He poked at her formerly injured arm.

She pulled away from him. "He gets hurt, too."

He got stern. "Most of the time it's cuts and bruises. He rarely needs medical attention. From what I hear, you need it every few weeks."

"I may get hurt, but I rarely mess up a job. I'm younger, still learning on the combat front. It's not like he was always the best."

"So let him teach you."

She shook her head. "He won't go for that. I mean, he already regrets teaching me the basics."

"No, he doesn't, I promise. Presentation. It's a way that he can give you less medical treatment and know that you're not going to get too much of the dark side of retrieving."

She shrugged. "I'll think about it."

"Can I ask you something?"

She started to get to her feet. "You can ask, but I won't promise an answer."

"Do you know what side you're fighting for?"

She turned to face him head on, her arms crossed dangerously. "If I tell you this, and you tell my dad, I'm going to rip off your fingers, deep-fry them, and feed them to you, understand?"

Hardison pressed himself further into the couch. "A-alright."

She kept her voice low. "I know a lot more about what my father's done than he realizes. For the ones he can't completely get rid of, I remove their underlings, make it difficult, unfortunately not impossible, for them to get their dirty work done."

Hardison nodded dumbly. "Wow."

"Not a word to him, or I make you more obsolete than a walkman."

"Yes ma'am."

Raelyn sauntered off to the backyard.