It was dark where he was,nothing he had ever seen before had been this dark. The only sounds were this strange hum and beeping noises he could hear off in the distance but couldn't see anything. Wait,there was something else,he couldn't make it out. Was someone crying.. Sophie was crying but he couldn't see her. He felt like he had been floating in water for hours until he heard her voice,it sounded so far away.

"Nate,I love you alright? I love you and I need you to come back to us,you can't leave."

She sounded so scared,so afraid. He kept wishing he knew where she was so he could bring his arms around her and take that fear away but,the darkness was stopping him. He heard another voice as well that broke through the strange hum and beeping sound.

"Dad.. please wake up,we need you. You can't just leave me like this,you can't leave mom. She's asleep now barely,but she hasn't slept in days dad,she has been right here with you,the only time she left is when Eliot made her eat and get cleaned up." He could hear her sigh quietly. "You need to wake up,the doctors are telling her she has to make the choice to take you off this machine. She hasn't stopped crying. Not since we got here anyway. Y-you saved me dad,like you said you would but it's not over. Please.. just wake up.."

He could hear her voice trail off as she silently cried.

Eliot had been pacing the halls now for the past four days,Nate had made little to no progress and he had to fight with Sophie and Claire just to get them out of the room. So far Trevor and the man who was in charge of him had made no real attempt at trying to get Claire back and with the mastermind on life support he was as good as dead. The doctors had told Sophie the day before that she would have to make a choice to remove life support within the next few days since Nate had made no progress. They told them he had a twenty-five percent chance of being able to breathe on his own again and even that had been pushing the limits of how well he was doing. He was still extremely pale and with every glance into the room that Eliot took,the hope that Nate would get better become more distant. Parker hadn't fully come to terms with the fact that Nate might not make it through and Hardison,he was taking it harder then anyone expected,then again who could blame him. Nate brought them together as a family,made them this crazy dysfunctional family that needed him,just as much as he needed them. Eliot felt bad for Claire most of all,she lost the people who she thought were her parents and now here she was sitting next to her father watching him slowly slip away.

"El-Eliot." Claire's voice broke through his thoughts as he looked to the girl. Her cobalt blue eyes mimicked those of the masterminds and it nearly ripped him apart to see those eyes staring at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked coming to the girl who stood just outside Nate's door.

"I'm kinda thirsty right now." Eliot gave a smile placing his hand on the girls shoulder guiding her away from the room but stopped when she looked back.

"Listen sweetie,he will be fine,Soph- your mom is in there with him and Hardison is keeping an eye on him with his computer okay. If anything he will let us know." She nodded quietly letting Eliot guide her towards the vending machines.

Nate could feel someone squeezing his hand and he could recognize the warmth and feel of the hands as Sophie's hand. Struggling he finally saw a light that he made his way towards it. Opening his eyes the light of the room stung until he let them adjust. Feeling the breathing tube in his throat he began to panic grabbing at it as he tried to pull it out. The sudden flurry of movement and the sound of machines going crazy woke Sophie who quickly tried to stop him before he hurt himself.

Grabbing his hands she leaned over him holding his hands down. "Nate! Calm down you are okay.. Look at me." As doctors and nurses rushed into the room he was still struggling as she let go of his hands letting the nurses take hold of his hands as she moved hers to his face making him focus on her. "Nate,darling look at me. No,not at them,look at me."

"Miss you need to-" The nurse was going to tell her to leave until the doctor stopped her taking note that Nate was slowly calming down.

"Eliot man something is going on in Nate's room,it doesn't look good,distract the kid." Hardison said over the coms as Eliot glanced down the hallway taking note of what he was also seeing.

"Let' go outside for a little fresh air kiddo." Eliot told Claire guiding her way from the chaotic scene that had taken shape in Nate's room,he could only hope everything was okay but,the fact that Sophie was still in there gave him a little bit of hope.

Nate stared up at Sophie as she held his attention. She could read the fear in his cobalt blue eyes as she gave him a warm smile,it was all she could do to keep him calm enough so the doctors could make sure everything was right. He was still panicked and the sound from the heart monitor mimicked this to everyone in the room. He tried to look around but Sophie held his gaze leaning closer to him.

"Shh,Nate you're fine,look at me,these people are here to help you okay." The heart monitor showed his heart rate coming down as the doctor moved to check his vitals.

"Well,he is a fighter that's for sure, I can't figure out how he is even awake right now,he should honestly still be in a coma." Nate went to reach for the tube again but Sophie took his hand in hers stopping him.

"Is it safe to take this thing out,if you don't he is going to pull it out on his own." Sophie glanced towards the doctor but quickly turned her attention back to Nate .

"Well we can try and see what happens,but he has to remain calm." Sophie looked to Nate who nodded slowly. As the doctor came near his eyes widened slightly,and the doctor took note of this."Mister Ford,you have nothing to be worried about."

Sophie grabbed a hold of his hand as his eyes shifted to the grifter not looking at the doctor. His fear of hospitals and doctors was still present.
As the doctor pulled the tube out Nate began to cough trying to catch his doctor was quick to put an oxygen mask on him until he was able to regain his breath.

"Nate." Sophie said with a smile on her face as she ran her hand through his messy hair.

Moving the oxygen mask he smiled."I-i love... you t-too." He watched the tears form in her eyes as she smiled bringing her lips to his from a brief kiss.

"Dad?!" Claire yelled rushing into the room followed by the other three. "Dad,you,you're awake."

Nate smiled lightly but was still feeling weak. "Hey,sweetheart." he said quietly as the others stood at the bottom of his bed. Looking down to his chest he looked back at the faces around the room. "Guess this mean I didn't scare anyone?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Oh you scared this lovely group of people Mister Ford,however you need to rest,you've been in a coma and on life support for four days now,your body needs time to heal." The doctor informed him as he left the room.

"Nate man,you need to stop getting shot,you trying to make the world record?" Hardison asked as Parker laughed.

"No,just getting my daughter back." He smiled at Claire giving her had a squeeze.

"You need to rest." Sophie said quietly and for once he didn't put up an argument.

"Rest.. Sounds great right now." He said in nearly a whisper as he closed his eyes again letting sleep take over.

"Dad's just sleeping right?" Claire asked looking up to Sophie who nodded.

"You all realize this means the game is back on,Nate's still alive and we have Claire,the attempts to take her and kill Nate will become more intense."

All eyes look to Eliot as Sophie sighed. "We need to get to safe place,as soon as he is cleared to leave,I have a place just outside of the Boston area we can use." Eliot nodded as Hardison grabbed the address from Sophie to set up the place with the equipment they would need,Parker followed behind as Claire began to follow.

"Where are you going kid?" Eliot asked with a grin following her.

"With them." She grinned looking back at Sophie who nodded.

"Alright but keep an eye on them and take this,but don't tell your mom,she'd kill me." He handed the girl a tazer and watched as she left with Hardison and Parker.

"You can't keep an eye on everyone Eliot,she needs out of this place for some fresh air anyway. You can go with them Eliot,we are fine as far as anyone knows he is still on life support."

Eliot eyed Sophie and shook his head."I'll stay right here,the main target will be Nate seeing as he was the force behind rescuing Claire and helping the Maxwell's and I know those two won't let anything happen to her."

Sophie nodded as Eliot went back to pacing the halls. She knew Claire would be safe so she focused her attention on Nate. Who seemed to be dreaming.

"Sophie." He said in a panic opening his eyes sitting up as she got up from her chair and carefully pushed him back down.

"Shh,I'm here,it was only a dream." Looking over to her he nodded slowly.

"Lay with me?" He said quietly moving slowly to the side.

"Nate I-" She was about to disagree with him until she saw that look in his eye that told her he needed her next to him. Making a face she took her shoes off slowly getting into the bed next to him being careful not to hurt him.

"Thank you." He said quietly letting his eyes close again as he brought one of his arms around her.

Sophie sighed quietly but she too was soon asleep,finally giving into the complete exhaustion from staying awake for the four days sitting be his side. They both slept better when they were next to one another,they felt safer knowing that the other was there by their side.

Eliot took a pass by the room and stopped when he saw the two of them.
"About time they got their act together." He said to himself with a smile as he took a seat in the hall next to the masterminds room. He along with the others knew it was going to be a long recovery for him but what mattered now was getting everyone out of the open and into a safer place until they could find Trevor again and the man who was not only after the girl but the mastermind as well.

[A/N: And that is chapter 10. Coming up the team will be forced to make a choice none of them really wants to make. Thank you for all the reviews and story follows so far! ]