Author's note: This has a episode tag on it, including some dialogue and such from the episode...I guess you get the idea :P

Episode tag: The twelve step job.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Leola.

I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review! ;)

Also Lalabada123, I won't forget (only because you so kindly remind me at least once a week :P) And thanks! I'm so glad you love my story. If i didnt have you telling me to put it up, this story proably wouldnt have existed. :)

Chapter 10: Separate jobs

Leola adjusted her black wig; brushing the long straight strands off her shoulder. She grinned excitedly as she walked up to the building, and tested out the phone. The alarm systems were instantly bypassed and she had one minute to get in. she quickly picked the lock to the back door and slipped in, turning the alarm system back before the security noticed. She stepped over quietly to a corner and peeked down the hall. Nobody in sight, she clicked another button on the phone, bringing up the video feeds. She thanked Hardison in her mind, loving how he laid out the systems and programs she needed to pull this off. Perhaps she wouldn't throw this one away. Video feeds looped, she skipped down the hallway.

Back at Nate's office, they had checked Jack Hurley into rehab and Nate went over the game plan.

"Alright, Parker and me will go in as patients and Sophie, you can go in as the doctor." Nate explained taking another gulp of his drink, not even bothering to wince as the alcohol burned his throat.

Sophie looked at him sideways and formulated a plan to get Nate to see how bad his drinking really was getting. She really wanted to help him but there was no way she could, as long as Nate kept pushing everything away. Then, as soon as Nate told her she would be the doctor, she made a plan of her own. Nate would be entering rehab but not for pretend.

"Good then what are we waiting for?" Parker asked, looking at everyone, crossing her legs.

Nate looked to Sophie who nodded. "That sounds good. So the plan is to trick him into thinking that he entered himself into rehab and our goal is to get the location of the money from him."

"Yep that is basically it." Nate replied, finishing the last of his drink. He could go a few days without it; he was sure.

"Alright while you guys do that, then Eliot and I will go find Jack's car and see if he hid the money there." Hardison added, looking over at Eliot who just glared at him.

"Uh no, first thing first." Eliot growled, walking to the kitchen and back, whipping the paper towel at Hardison. Hardison managed to catch the paper towel before it nearly gave him a concussion.

"You're cleaning your slushee out of my truck."

"No, see its your tone, I don't like how you speak dude, I mean come on, it was just a little spill..." Hardison shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

As Nate walked to the door, Parker muttered, "OOHHH you're in trouble." She snickered and walked out.

Hardison looked over at Sophie. "Also Sophie you needed this thing remember?" he stood up, walking towards Sophie. Eliot simply stood there, his arms crossed.

Sophie shook her head at Hardison, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry Hardison, you're on your own. You spilled in HIS truck, you clean it up.' She patted him on the shoulder. "Besides, you really want to fight Eliot over a slushee? You won't come out unscathed." She called out, walking out to join Nate and Parker.

"What? No wai—"Hardison turned around to see Eliot glaring at him smugly. "See, that's just disrespectful. Ask nicely. I mean seriously, it's a slushee. Damn." Hardison muttered, walking downstairs to the truck. Eliot smiled satisfied and followed behind him. He glanced at the time and picked up his phone. He just had to call Leola. He couldn't help but think about what she was up to.

Oh fudge." Leola muttered as she strained to squeeze in the narrow space. She had measured a little off and now she was stuck in the vent. Why on earth couldn't have she went down from the ceiling? That would have been so much easier, but no, now she was stuck in place and she was sure that she only had ten minutes to pull this stunt. She strained, pushing her foot first and wiggled a few more feet. Why they put such a narrow space in this specific vent, she didn't know. It should have been easier than going up three floors and going through the wider vent. She didn't mind that part; it was having to dangle from the ceiling. Being reminded why she was stuck in the first place; she wiggled again, and managed to pull herself a few feet more. She pulled herself another few inches.

"weichen Sie Kaninchen und snuffleogous aus" she whispered angrily in German. Suddenly her phone rang. She sighed exasperatedly and looked longingly at the room she had to enter to get to the vault holding the Zadonshchina. She couldn't turn her head to see who was calling but she answered anyways.

"Hello" she answered in a German accent.

"Leola?" Eliot asked, unsure.

She instantly smiled. "Hey!" she whispered, remembering not to breathe too much. She pulled herself another few inches. Almost there. "How are you?"

I'm good; we ended up taking a job. Nate and Parker are in rehab." She frowned, wondering why but then thought it would be because of the job. "what about you?" Eliot asked, happy that he had called in the first place.

"uh..." she eyed the space she had left to wiggle through. "I'm in a...tight spot but I getting out of it."

"oh did the guards catch you?" Eliot asked worried.

She rolled her eyes. "Im just stuck, literally...like wedged." There was a pause on the other end and then Eliot burst out laughing.

"Hey! It's not funny! I was going to break a record here! Not anymore." She grumbled, wiggling forward again.

"Ok ok, how the heck did you manage that? You know what, tell me when you get back here. HEY! You're not done! I can still see the blue stain from here!"

"what's going on?" she wondered and heard Hardison muttering something she couldn't pick up.

"Oh it will be your head I punch." Eliot threatened and she assumed it was to Hardison.

"Let me guess, he spilled something?"

"Yeah, his damn slushee in my truck. He's cleaning it now."

"You are a bully Eliot. You have issues. Seriously there is nothing left, I can't even see it. you're paranoid.' Hardison's voice came on clear.

"Hey get away from the phone. OOF! DAMNIT HARDSION! " Eliot screamed, as Hardison knocked his water down his shirt.

"Hey uh Leola? Mind helping me out here? He's looking VERY constipated at the second." Hardison snickered, unable to hold it in.

Leola laughed quietly too, hoping the guards couldn't hear. She heard Eliot growl clearly, even though she was on the phone. "Seriously Leola? You're with him? he's very scary looking at the second. you might be attending my funeral. Will you avenge me? I mean come on Eliot what are your intentions with Leola? Whhoooaaaa, waiiiitttttt. ELIOT! AHH!"

She burst out laughing as she heard a scuffle and someone groaning. "Dammit Hardison!"

"Hey, that is NOT my fault. I have freedom of speech here." Hardison groaned, as he leaned against the truck. Eliot gave him a good whack to his chest. He wheezed and coughed.

"imma need therapy dude. You gonna pay for it?" Hardison asked. He said something else but Leola couldn't make it out.

"AVENGE ME!"Hardison cackled as he ran away. She definitely heard that.

She tried to quiet her laughter as she was shaking the vent.

She pulled herself the last few inches and pulled free. She inhaled deeply and jumped down from the vent. She gave it a dirty look before scouting the room.

"Sorry about that." Eliot apologized, his anger ebbing away. That was definitely not how he imagined the phone call would go.

"oh that's fine Hun. I'm free now." She whispered, hacking into the security system and hacking the password of the vault. It hissed as the bolts clanked and opened.

She sprayed the air to reveal the laser beams. Taking off her bag, she went back a few steps before jumping, sliding in between two beams into the vault. She grunted as her knee banged the floor on the other side.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh you know, hanging out, grabbing some things." She joked.

"Are you...you're breaking into the vault as you're talking to me?" Eliot asked incredulously.

"Yupp. Smart eh? I will always remember this place, thanks to you." She smiled and carefully placed the zadonschina in her bag. "Why you missing me?" she teased, knowing she missed him sorely over the past few days.

Eliot smiled softly. "maybe." He said in a light tone. "Depends. You missing me?"

Her smile softened, as she wondered how to answer. "What do you think?"

"hmm. I think yes."

She smiled again as she leaped between the beams and shut the vault, scanning for security. "hmmm. I believe you might be right." Causing him to laugh. Suddenly she heard footsteps. "crap. um Eliot, can we talk later? I should be home in a few days anyways and I hope everyone is alright and please don't hurt Hardison, you need him for hacking and such and yes I am missing you and I know you're missing me and I have to go and I hope things go good and see you in a few days bye!"

She quickly hung up and ran to the vent. Remembering it was too small, she didn't want to take the chance of crushing the scroll. She slipped down another hallway and pulled herself up above the doorway, hoping that the guard wouldn't walk in completely.

With the disconnected tone ringing in his ear Eliot sighed. Sorrow filled him because he missed her but at the same time he had a sense of relief; at least she knew what he meant. He couldn't bring himself to say anything over the phone but he had wanted to hear her voice. He walked back into Nate's to join Hardison and the see where they were in the job.

Hardison and Eliot headed to the parking lot where Jack's vehicle was parked and Hardison got into the seat. Eliot noticed how far up the seat was and knew something was wrong. He frowned looking at Hardison.

'Hurley's a big guy right?" Eliot asked, looking around.

"yeah." Hardison answered, looking at the dashboard. Eliot looked around the parking lot, his thoughts racing.

"So is the parking attendant." Eliot muttered. "Why is the seat so far forward?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Hardison didn't pay attention, instead focused on what he was in the car to do. "I dont think I can pop the trunk without starting the car."

Eliot's thoughts raced as he put together possibilities. "Somebody's been in the car." He spoke aloud, getting more concerned by the second. Finally Hardison shifted his attention to Eliot.

"What's your problem?" Hardison asked, confused as to why Eliot was so paranoid.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on." Eliot ducked down to check for possible places for a bomb. Sure enough, there was a bomb under the car. He felt his stomach knot and he forced himself to be calm. He couldn't lose any more teammates.

Standing up, he tried to compose himself. "Yeah, there's a bomb."

Hardison sat there, looking at Eliot wide eyed. "What?"

"Listen, listen. There's a bomb."

Hardison paid no attention and immediately tried to get out of the seat.

"No no no."

Eliot fought against Hardison's panic and forced him and stay. "Stay! Stay stay."

'Move, move!" Hardison fought and Eliot growled. "Listen to me! Its right underneath the seat." Hardison stopped moving. " alright? That means it has to be pressure sensitive. If you move, this thing's gonna go off."

Hardison looked around the car, his wide eyes, flickering back and forth as he racked his brain, trying to register what Eliot just said. He stayed still as Eliot checked the bomb again.

"Pressure sensitive?" Hardison asked. "Its pressure sensitive, you sure?" Eliot didn't answer and Hardison took it as a yes.

"Ok, pressure, pressure. Ok um, Eliot, go-go and get a bag of bricks." Hardison was sure this would work.

Eliot listened to his plan and rolled his eyes. "That only works in movies."

"BAG OF BRICKS IS A GOOD SOUND PLAN!" Hardison yelled, looking down at Eliot. Suddenly there was a two minute timer on the bomb. Eliot decided it was time to panic. He had no idea how to get Hardison out of this one. He listed off that the bomb had wires and that's how it would be picking up the signal. Luckily Hardison formulated a plan as he said he would reboot the system.

'You want me to kick it?" Eliot asked.

Hardison stared at him. "Oh god I'm gonna die." He ordered Eliot to pop the hood.

He listened to Hardison and opened the hood and looked at Hardison incredulously as Hardison said there was a half a second margin of error and he was freaked. "Run that bag of bricks by me again?" he asked, hoping Hardison felt it was a good plan still. Hardison gave him a dirty look, counted down and yelled "now!"

Eliot wrenched out the wires and jumped away from the truck. He breathed a sigh of relieve after the truck didn't blow. He reached under and pulled out the bomb, tossing it to Hardison. "Have a souvenir." He smiled as Hardison went to take off on him, the smile quickly turning to rage. "Where you going. We have to search the car." Hardison began to mumble on about freshening up and going to cry as a black SUV drove up. Eliot had it under control though; he could take whatever they threw his way. It was what he did best. Or at least that was what he thought until the other car showed up to the party.

The guard began walking in and he looked around the vault room and glanced at his digital watch. She could see the time; he was so close to her. It was 12:30 midnight. She quietly got her phone out and hacked into the computer at the security desk. She whipped up some music and played it on the speaker phone of the building. The guard went to take a step into the room when poker face by lady gaga blared on the P.A system. He jumped and gave a shrill scream, yelling into his radio. "TURN IT OFF! THAT IS NOT FUNNY!" he yelled angrily, thinking his buddies played a prank on ran back out and she waited until she no longer could his shadow. She grinned and hopped down, running for the back door. She was home free.

The next night, she took the red eye flight to Russia, under a new passport and disguise. She smiled as everything went to plan. In four hours she would land and in another five, she could be on her way home again.

He stomped on the brake, his heart pounding as he watched the car in front of him. He breathed relieved, glad that it wasn't going to happen. Suddenly the car was surrounded. He jumped out of the car but it was too late.

"NNOOO!" he yelled, running even as the car flipped and rolled five times and caught on fire. He could hear them screaming in pain. "Hang on! I'm coming!"

He punched out a thug and head butted the other thug, racing towards the fire, hearing his name being screamed in pain.

"Eliot! OH GOD!" He heard Jonathon scream.

"HANG ON!" his heart beat wildly as he ran as fast as he could.

The fire sparked the gasoline and the car blew up. The force threw Eliot bac—

Eliot woke up with a gasp, his sheets turned and he was covered in sweat. His heart was beating a mile a minute, unable to slow it he cursed, wiping the sweat angrily from his face. The nightmares were back.

Three days later, she left the airport at 10 at night and rented a car. She knew they were doing a case and she wasn't sure if they were finished. Eliot would probably be irritated she didn't call but she would swing by in the morning. She got home late, around 12 and she got changed into pjs, dropping her stuff on the floor. That could wait. She walked over and grabbed some tea. putting her feet up, she sat in silence and closed her eyes, running the last job through her mind.

Back at Eliot's place, Eliot woke up jumping out of his nightmare. He looked at the time and groaned. There was a reason he never slept longer than two hours. The whole scene with Hardison and the bomb had brought up memories he tried to forget. He decided to call Leola, see where she was at, as they haven't talked since their last phone call. Not that the phone call was any good. Dialling, he waited. Then she answered sleepily.

"Hello?" she asked, covering a yawn.

"Uh hey it's Eliot."

"Oh hey!" she sounded more alert now.

"Did I wake you?" he asked concerned. He didn't know what time it would be wherever she was.

"No not really. Why don't you come over?" she asked, smiling.

"You're home? Why didn't you call?"

"I thought you guys might be doing a job still. I was going to meet up with you in the morning." she glanced at the clock. "Well technically its morning so."

Eliot rolled his eyes. "I'll be over in ten." he hung up and threw on a pair of jeans with a loose t shirt. He grabbed his keys and headed over.

In exactly ten minutes she opened the door and he stood there. She smiled as he enveloped her into a hug.

"Hello darling." He whispered, tightening his arms. She turned her head into his shoulder and smiled giving a big sigh.

"Hello back. It's good to be back."

He came in and sat down on the couch.

She grabbed a blanket and snuggled beside him. He told her about the job they had taken, and how Hardison wanted to use a bag of bricks to diffuse the bomb. She laughed as he told her of Parker on the happy meds.

"Aw I wish I was here to see that." She chuckled, imagining Parker hyped up on meds.

They settled into a comfortable silence but Eliot tried to stifle a yawn. She leaned back, taking a good look at him. She frowned, seeing the darkening bags under his eyes. Running a hand through his hair softly she spoke.

"Haven't been sleeping?" she stated and Eliot just shrugged his shoulders. She didn't need to know; didn't need to carry the guilt.

She smiled softly, planting a kiss on Eliot's lips. "Come on." She laced her hands in his, pulling him to the bedroom.

She climbed into her bed and motioned for Eliot to do the same. He smiled, pulling off his shirt and climbing in beside her as she snuggled in close. He wrapped his arm around her midsection, happy to have her close to him.

She put her hand on top of his and squeezed gently. "Goodnight."

He kissed her shoulder and whispered, "Night darling."

He laid there as her breathing evened out and he shuffled around a bit, feeling sleepy himself. Just as he drifted off to sleep, he swore he had heard, "sweet dreams." being mumbled from Leola's lips. He opened his eyes but she was sleeping. He smiled anyways and moved in closer, his eyelids heavy and fell into a heavenly dreamless sleep.

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