"I can't, Clooney, amazing, my show, star," Abby heard the head of drama mumble, five minutes for curtains, as he rushed about backstage. It was the Clooney that caught her attention; she was used to her teachers' eccentricities and obsessiveness, which lapped Sophie's by miles, for drama, but Clooney? That had to be the Leverage crew.

"Mr Marigold," Abby yelled out as loud as she dared for backstage, hitching up her long dress as she tried to chase after him.

"Can't talk have to," he began but trailed off as he walked out onto the stage and gestured one of the stage hands to draw the curtains; the audience cheered in belief the play was starting

Abby stood in the wings, arms crossed, leaning over her left foot with her brow furrowed in confusion and intrigue.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Marigold began and the crowd began to hush itself. "I'd like to thankyou all for coming, first of all, but I must inform you that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we must delay our closing night 'till tomorrow evening."

In the audience and backstage, there was a Mexican wave of whispers as the news was passed from person to person, all equally as confused as the last. All except Abby, who smiled at the notion, as she now knew that not only were her family alive and well, but would make it to see her show.

The man finished his speech, though failed to mention Mr Clooney to the audience and then hurried back stage, pushing his way past Abby as he did. Abby took the opportunity to lift, just as Parker had secretly been teaching her, his phone out of his pocket; it wasn't exactly a smooth lift, but Marigold was so hyped up he didn't even notice.

She turned the phone on, went into the received calls section and pressed redial on his last received call.

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"You gave him your name," Sophie said to Nate in horror.

"I want him to know my name," Nate replied in a solemn and malicious tone. Then, to both of their surprise, Linda's phone rang. Sophie gave him a concerned look as Nate picked up the phone quickly and answered it.

"Talk quick," Nate said threateningly.

"Ha! I knew it!" a voice exclaimed over the line.

"What? Abby? How?" Nate questioned, slightly confused as to how the girl got the number.

"George Clooney my ass!"

"Is that Abby?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, she's saying something to do with George Clooney," Nate replied and Sophie gave a satisfied grin.

"So you guys are okay?" Abby asked and, in Nate's moment of confusion, Sophie stole the phone from him.

"Abby!" Sophie exclaimed. "Yes, we're fine we just lost all of our phones and comms then we got stuck doing a job on our layover."

"Was that you that delayed the play?"

"Yes, well, it's good to put my acting skills to good use," Sophie said proudly.

"Thanks Sophie. So you're going to be able to make it now?" the teenager asked hopefully.

"Thank Parker, it was her idea," Sophie informed the girl. "And we'll definitely be there."

"Awesome. And can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Don't tell Eliot," the teenager requested. "I want it to be a surprise."

"Nate, he's getting on the plane," Eliot exclaimed over their makeshift intercoms. "We're on him right now, but he's getting on with the heart."

"What was that about a heart?" Abby questioned, not entirely sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"We'll explain later," Sophie said quickly. "And your secret's safe."

"Well, get him off the plane now," Nate instructed the hitter.

"I should let you go," Abby replied.

"Probably," Sophie agreed and, after saying goodbye, hung up the phone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After several conversations with her classmates, feigning disappointment, confusion and anger at her teacher, and changing into a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, Abby wandered outside.

She was met by Kyle, leaning against his father's car.

"Top show Abby, just brilliant," he praised sarcastically.

"Why thankyou," she replied, playing along, as Detective Bonnano got out of the car. "Hi," she smiled at the man, who nodded a hello.

"Look," he began uncomfortably. "I couldn't find anything about what happened. The only thing I could find was a shipwreck in the Caribbean. Maybe you should stay…."

"Oh no, don't worry!" she exclaimed. "The delay for our final performance was because of them."

"How do you know that?" he asked cautiously. One reason behind the question being his duty as a police officer, the other as a concerned parent, the third being if anything happened to the girl he wasn't entirely certain that Eliot wouldn't have his head.

"George Clooney; the delay was because George Clooney wants to come see the play," she stated simply.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! Talked to Sophie myself."

"Well that's good to hear," Bonnano stated.

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The plane flight back from Cincinnati had been filled with mixed emotions. Sophie, Nate, Parker and Hardison were all thrilled, though it showed differently in each of them, at what they had accomplished the night before. Parker, Hardison and Sophie were also particular excited about the small prize awaiting their unsuspecting hitter once they landed in Boston. Eliot's mood, on the other hand, had been far from elation, his leg tapping ever so slightly out of nervousness as he contemplated the disappointment and anger of his niece.

They landed and got through security without any issue, picked up their luggage and waited for Hardison to pull the car around from the parking bay.

"Where are we going?" Eliot growled, breaking the silence that had arisen as they drove home from the airport, when he noticed Hardison turning off the highway one exit too soon.

The hacker gave a knowing grin as he looked back at Eliot in his rear-view mirror. "You'll see," he said as he nodded.

"Dammit Hardison!" the hitter swore. "If you're trynna take me to one o' those nerd fests again-"

"Hey man, how many times I gotta tell you; geek fest," he corrected. "And just be cool man; you'll like this surprise."

"Yeah well, I don't like surprises," Eliot complained.

"Everyone likes surprises silly!" Parker exclaimed as they turned another corner.

"Where are we going Hardison?" the hitter asked once more. "I gotta get home and console a hormonal teenager about missing her play."

A small grin slipped from Sophie's lips as they pulled up to the school. A confused and bewildered look sat on Eliot's face.

"What?" Eliot asked as Hardison undid his seatbelt and twisted around in his chair to face the hitter.

"Sophie pulled some of her magic and got the play delayed so you could go see it," Hardison explained.

"We," Sophie and Parker corrected simultaneously.

"I got all of us tickets and that means you too Nate," Sophie exclaimed knowing Nate, though interested, would be far from enthusiastic and would much rather be at home building model ships.

"Does Abby-"

"She knows and is very excited," Sophie interrupted as she opened the door and stepped outside. "Pip-pip; the play starts in two minutes," she continued, gesturing the rest of the team out of the vehicle.

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"Oh Milly, we've been kidnapped!" Abby exclaimed in her best southern drawl and, in the lull between her lines gave a quick glance out into the audience. Although the stage lights prevented her from seeing lots, she could just make out the silhouettes of her favourite team of criminals.

"Good job on the accent Sophie," Nate whispered to Sophie.

"Shhhhhh!" Parker hushed; she was sitting cross-legged on the seat next to Sophie, leaning forward and watching the performance with intense concentration. Nate grinned at this while he silently contemplated how their team had grown, then returned his attention back to the play.

Dance steps were fumbled through, lines (thankfully) weren't forgotten, songs were (for the most part) sung on key and even Nate had to admit that, for a high school production, it was a pretty good play.

An hour later though, it was complete and as Abby came on stage to take her bow, the Leverage crew cheered the loudest; a notion which caused Abby to grin like she'd just won the lottery.

Then the director, Marigold, came out on stage, clearly flustered. "I'd like to thank the school, the wonderful cast, the lighting and sound crew, our stagehand," Marigold thanked as he began to sweat under the stage lights. "And, of course, Mr Clooney for gracing us with his presence," he stated, pointing to where the Leverage crew was seated.

"George Clooney?" Eliot asked.

"It worked didn't it!" Sophie exclaimed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Bravah!" Sophie shouted, applauding as Abby, still dressed in her costume and carrying a backpack, walked outside to meet the team. The teenager quickened her pace and, when she drew close enough, jumped excitedly into Eliot's arms.

"Well done darlin'," he exclaimed.

"Did you like it?" Abby asked as she let go of Eliot, brushing the hair off her face and hitched up her back pack.

"Course we did," Eliot replied.

"Yeah! Totally hilarious," Parker exclaimed. "But Dorcas the rest of those girls should have been carrying tasers."

"Thanks Parker," the teenager replied, knowing that, coming from Parker that statement was definitely a compliment.

"Yeah Ace," Hardison praised. "You totally rocked it."

"Very well done," Nate said simply.

Abby smiled in thanks as they began to walk back to their vehicles.

"So what's this I heard about a heart?" she queried and Parker opened her mouth to respond but closed it quickly in response to the yelling coming from the entrance to the auditorium.

"Mr Clooney? Mr Clooney!" they heard Marigold yell out in hope and in desperation.

"Ya know, someone should really tell him," Hardison exclaimed.

"Nah, he'll figure it out eventually," Parker replied.

"I'll have Clooney send him some cookies apologising," Hardison decided sympathetically.

"Nice job Sophie," Nate whispered to the grifter as he walked with his arm around her.

"It was all Parker's idea," she said back softly just as the teenager leant back from walking next to Eliot and mouthed to the thief 'thankyou'.

Parker grinned and gave Abby two thumbs up to the thief as they made their way back to the bar to celebrate all of their successes.

Thank you wolfprowl for the request, I really had fun writing this.

Any more requests are welcome and if there's a specific episode tie in you want done, let me know.