Chapter 12

"Wow," Kennedy exhaled softly, "I mean…wow."

She lifted her head from Eliot's chest and turned her face to his.

He smiled as he tucked a curl behind her ear. "Is that an endorsement?" he asked playfully.

"Three times in less than two hours!" She raised her eyebrows as she regarded him, "Hell yeah, that's an endorsement."

The small bubble of laughter that danced up his chest and floated from his mouth felt foreign. It was genuine and uncensored and he was so unused to hearing it, he closed his mouth quickly in shock and even a little embarrassment.

Kennedy regarded him for a moment, the playful look on her face slowly becoming serious. "What is all of this about, Eliot?"

His smile faltered.

His gaze held hers but he couldn't bring himself to tell her all of the things that had been racing through his mind. And how could he? His thoughts seemed crazy, even to him. There had to be a rational and reasonable explanation. He hadn't seen what he thought he saw, he hadn't dreamed what he thought he dreamt. It was the stress of the situation. He was moving too fast and didn't have enough facts.

Yeah- that was it….but it wasn't, and he knew it.

"I'm still trying to figure it out," he answered and looked at a spot just over her head, but Kennedy would have none of it. She lifted her head and angled it to once again make their eyes meet.

"Eliot Spencer," she began softly, "I've known you for a long time. I may not know everything about you, but I know when you're lying…"

"I don't lie," Eliot countered.

"Okay…deflecting," Kennedy volleyed back.

Eliot sighed heavily and regarded her silently for a moment as he rubbed her arm. The words wouldn't come.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Kennedy," he offered her sincerely, "but the things you do know, you can trust."

She stared at him thoughtfully for a brief moment before she nodded her agreement. She rested her chin on his chest before gracing him with a small smile.

He smiled back and realized he'd really become too comfortable. "We should get dressed," he announced softly, "I want to be able to move as soon as Hardison calls."

Kennedy felt the shift and knew it was pointless to object. But she didn't immediately jump to do as Eliot suggested. She glided her thigh against his, angling it so that her knee fell just below his groin. Then she stared at him with an expression that was equal parts mischief and innocence.

Eliot couldn't help but smile and shake his head, "You don't play fair."

She felt the temperature of his skin rise, felt him stiffen beneath her- mission accomplished! She winked playfully and gifted him with a quick, teasing laugh as she jumped from the couch to search out her clothes.

Eliot shook his head in disbelief but he couldn't help but smile. It amazed him how at ease he'd been with her. It was as though they'd hadn't lost any time; as though there were no wolves at their door. It was quiet, and peaceful, and he felt connected to her in a way that he'd never been able to find with anyone else.

"I'm going to the bathroom to freshen up," she informed him, her arms laden with her pilfered clothing.

Eliot nodded silently before she offered him a seductive catwalk and sauntered away.

His body was relaxed beyond measure; sex-satiated and inexplicably happy given their circumstances but Eliot knew he had to get his brain back to the task of formulating a plan. He stood and stretched his languid limbs and resting muscles trying to force oxygen and adrenaline through his system. He grabbed his underwear and jeans from the floor and dressed as he once again mentally checked off the events from the day and everything else that he knew.

He walked to the window as he buttoned his pants and saw the last strains of sunlight mix with the first strains of night to layer the sky.

The bathroom door opened and he turned to see Kennedy dressed once again in her pale pink dress. She'd pulled her hair into a long braid and the hairstyle only served to accentuate the flushed, sexy glow on her skin.

He was just about to tell her so when he noticed the pained look on her face as she braced the columns of the bathroom doorway.

"Eliot…" she called to him but couldn't manage anything else as she crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.

He started to run to her but barely got pass the couch when the wave of dizziness hit him. He looked to Kennedy and his vision danced till it looked like her body was laying in the middle of a fun-house hallway.

Dammit…Gas. Silent, invisible, odorless.

He knew it. He also knew he was powerless to get them out of there. He looked to the phone and made an attempt to reach it but his legs buckled and rendered him immobile. His breathing slowed, he felt himself quickly losing consciousness.

He tried to will his body forward. Got to get to the phone. Got to warn Hardison. Got to make sure they're safe…

But the paralytic had taken hold. Eliot was struggling to keep his eyes open. They were at the mercy of whoever found them.

The last vision Eliot grasped was of the front door of the apartment opening and closing softly behind a shadowed figure dressed in a black suit and expensive, sturdy shoes walking evenly and directly toward him. The person stopped to pick up the phone as they approached then stooped at the hitter's motionless head.

"So, Spencer," the voice called into Eliot's fading consciousness, "we meet again."


Hardison had been going through so many files and digesting so much information that he didn't initially hear when Sophie returned to the room.

He startled as her hand made contact with his shoulder.

"Easy, it's just me," she announced and squeezed his shoulder to reassure him.

The hacker inhaled and exhaled a long, heavy breath, "Sorry… I'm not really here right now."

"Where are you," Sophie asked him calmly.

She knew that they'd all each gone through a hellish ordeal but she always acknowledged the fact that Hardison and Parker had experienced something uniquely horrible: They had died.

It would be something that they would struggle with for a while, if not always. And although they hadn't talked about it, she worried that having to deal with another perilous situation so soon might be more than they could handle.

Hardison turned to face her. He offered her a gentle smile, "I'm fine Soph. You don't need to worry about me."

Sophie reached for his hand and held it between the both of hers, "But I do," she smiled back at him, her eyes misting slightly, "You'd been through something that no one can really claim to understand….Well almost no one."

He knew she was referring to Parker and the thought was his undoing. He squeezed Sophie's hand before he let go and went to stand at the window. Night was falling fast.

"She wants to go see Sonia," he volunteered.

"…and you're worried that Sonia will have a negative effect," Sophie concluded. She stood and walked over to him, "Hardison, Parker needs to have closure."

He turned to face her, eager for someone to see how crazy they were all being, "Sonia turned Parker into a killer. Parker! Crazy, naïve, innocent, Parker. She can't come back from that….and now you guys are okay with her just walking right back into the lion's den? It's not smart."

Sophie again reached out to touch him, to calm him, "Do you know what's different now from the last time Sonia had Parker?" She waited for him to meet her eyes. "She has us…she has you. We're right here and we'll be with her every step of the way so she doesn't fall off that cliff again. But she needs this, Alec. And you have to give this to her or you'll never really get her back."

Sophie's words resonated. As much as he hated the thought of Parker being anywhere near Sonia, he knew it was the best way to break the hold the evil scientist had on her.

They thought occurred to him that perhaps he'd been projecting a bit of his own anxiety and loathing of Sonia and what she'd turned him into as well. He wanted to meet Sonia again too but he didn't really want to resolve anything. He wanted to drive a stake through her heart; but he kept those dark thoughts to himself.

"You're right," he offered Sophie in contrition, "Thanks, Mom."

He offered her a teasing smile as she swatted him.

"You're a regular Benny Hill," she rolled her eyes, before smiling in spite of herself. She knew he needed as much closure as Parker did but everyone processed differently. She just hoped what he would get what he needed when he was ready to deal with it and he would seek help to deal with anything he couldn't deal with on his own.

"So is little man ready for our rematch?" Hardison asked and looked toward the stairs expectantly.

"Are you too busy here?" she asked in return and looked to the electronic file windows that cascaded upon each other on the monitor.

Hardison walked back over to his enormous screen, "I working on a few things but I could spare a few minutes before he's down for the count."

"Too late," Nate announced as he walked into the room, "He wanted a story but I didn't even get to the third page before he knocked out….So, what do we know?"

"Not surprisingly, a lot of nothing," Hardison offered as he sat down at the computer as Sophie and Nate stood eagerly behind him.

"Pegasus was a real one-stop-shop of doom. Lot of people died or disappeared. Lots of good old International Aid money sponsored lots of really hinky but strangely nondescript stuff. Lots of black ops. Lots of reports filled with finger pointing and navel gazing and talking around all of the crazy. But that's just about it in one insane nutshell. There is no clear purpose, no clear operational protocol. Nothing cement."

"Sounds about right for that level of Military operation," Nate explained definitely, "No clear cut paper trail."

"What about Eliot's involvement?" Sophie asked anxiously.

"That's just it," Hardison started, and he began clicking through the files of personnel mentioned in the Operation Pegasus documents. "This thing is so heavily redacted that I could be involved and I wouldn't know."

"Okay, so what about the little girl and her uncle," Nate prodded, "It's really strange that they disappeared. The woman must have gotten a message to him somehow."

"Well, I looked at the little girl's file from the school and her uncle is listed as her guardian. The address on file is…" He paused. Nate and Sophie looked to him expectantly.

"Wait a minute," the hacker began uttered to himself as his hands began furiously clicking through pages and pages of electronic files.

"What is it?" Nate moved closer.

"I've seen this address before, same numbers, same street," he answered distractedly. His prime focus was on making the connection and solving the puzzle in his mind.

"Found it!" he announced triumphantly a few moments later. "See, here…" he pointed the address to Nate and Sophie. It was the address listed on a condolence letter sent from to army to the family of a soldier killed in action during Operation Pegasus.

He searched the soldier's name. His curiosity and a strange, nagging dread making his hair stand on end.

Kimberly Masterson.

He found her. The soldier's green eyes and strawberry blonde hair at beautifully odd contrast with her army fatigues.

Her face looked so familiar, then it dawned on him. The little girl from this morning- she bore the same coloring, the green eyes, same strawberry blonde hair.

Then the connection that had been nagging Alec finally took root.

The hacker tore through the footage he'd captured outside of Eliot's house. He found the image of the woman who'd accosted Eliot outside his door.

She'd been wearing a wig but all the other features were a perfect match.

"No, no, no…shit!" Alec grabbed his headset and began the procedure to place his untraceable call to Eliot.

"What is it, Hardison," Nate asked, his own concern spiking immediately.

"This woman," he answered as the phone began dialing, "Kimberly Masterson, was a soldier in Operation Pegasus."

"And…" Sophie prompted eagerly when he didn't continue.

"Dammit, he's not answering," Hardison's alarm was rising steadily. He called the number again.

"What's going on," Nate asked again, he angled himself so he was in Hardison's line of sight.

"She's dead," the hacker finally answered, "She was killed in action. One way or the other, the woman Eliot is with is not who she says she is."