The ceiling was filled with an insufferable light. It was bright and horrible. A dull pain throbbed in her head. Of course, pain was a dull throb everywhere. The medicine helped to keep it in the back of her mind though. It made thinking difficult. She had already forgotten what she was supposed to do. Then she remembered the hand squeezing her own. She turned towards it with a smile on her face.

Nate was clinging to her hand like it was the source of life. His unruly hair was jumbled and pointed in all kinds of ways. His head was against her hand while the rest of him was bent at an odd angle. He had been sitting by her side when sleep finally took him. His clothes were wrinkled in all sorts of places. Still, there were lines all over his features and even in sleep the circles were deep and black under his eyes.

She moved her free hand with much effort. She slid it through his hair as gently as possible. Yet, he still startled awake at her touch. His eyes popped open, startled. Then they finally focused and met hers. A wide smile full of teeth grew on his beautiful face.

"Sophie," he cheered, "You're awake."

His left hand automatically shot out to brush the hair out of her face. The smile just kept growing brighter and brighter as he stared at her. His eyes even looked a little shiny. But he looked so tired. Why did he look so tired?

"How are you feeling?" He demanded softly.

The grifter tried to open her mouth to speak but a great pain erupted in her throat. Her hand automatically jumped to the area and a great panic set about her. A rapid beeping sound was starting to sound through the air. Then a hand was putting a glass in her face. There was even a straw sticking out of it.

"Drink," the mastermind ordered.

She obeyed.

"Slowly," he admonished softly, "You don't want to make yourself sick."

And just like that the beeping stopped. She could breathe again. Her throat didn't feel so sore either. Well, that could have been the drugs' doing. She did feel better though.

"Better?" Nate asked.

She nodded. He smiled.

He put away the magical drink and quickly fluffed her pillow. He pulled up his seat and gently touched her face. Then he swept away some stray hairs and just stared at her. His eyes were shining brightly.

"I'm so glad you're awake," he smiled.

Sophie smiled back at him. She lifted her hand as high as it could go. He seemed to understand what she wanted to do because he placed his cheek right into her hand. She rubbed her thumb along his cheek and felt a flurry of stubble. Her brow creased with worry as she took in his beautiful face.

"How long has it been?" She asked. Her voice sounded like gravel to her own ears.

"A few days," Nate shrugged, "Record time really. But you've never followed the rules."

Sophie nodded at the statement. She took a chance to look away. She allowed her eyes to take in the entire room. Confusion filled her senses.

"Where are the others?" She asked immediately.

"Parker's helping the police out," Nate explained gently, "I sent Hardison to retrieve her with very specific instructions that they were to get some rest."

"Eliot?" She asked with concern falling on her features.

The mastermind's expression turned dark. His eyes filled with hatred and anger at the mention of the hitter's name. Then his eyes clouded over with fear and sadness. He started brushing back the hair on her forehead. He was suddenly dodging her eyes. He was looking at his flittering hands instead of her.

"He's currently in jail awaiting trial," Nate replied, "He admitted to stabbing you. He said the two of you were sleeping together and that you chose me over him and he just couldn't-"

"Nate," Sophie gasped in alarm. She hated the stupid drugs in her system. It took her too long to figure out what he was saying. "Eliot and I… we-"

"I know," he said, meeting her eyes immediately, "I know you didn't."

"I…" she gasped, "I need… It's not. I didn't."

"I know," Nate nodded with a smile at the confirmation. He was scared. Then his brow creased with worry. He was rubbing her forehead gently, his hand still firmly grasping hers. It was like her touch was the current keeping him alive. He couldn't stop touching her.

Her eyelids grew heavy as the drugs continued to rage. She fought the pull of sleep off as much as she could though. There was something very important she had to say. She just couldn't quite remember what it was. She knew it involved him though.

"Sleep Soph," Nate ordered with a sad smile. Of course he would notice how droopy her eyelids had grown. Maybe his plan involved putting her to sleep. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"It's always been you," she mumbled softly, her eyes already half-closed, "Only you."

Then she returned to the black, but this time the trip wouldn't be so long.

%

Jane was at the grifter's rented apartment in moments flat. She looked towards the police currently watching the sight and nodded their way. They had absolutely no clue there was somebody else in the building. It wasn't their fault either. Parker was the best thief known around the world, and she worked with the best in their fields. Obviously two seasoned policemen were nothing for her.

The detective walked into the apartment and was immediately assaulted by the smell of dried blood. She stared at the kitchen floor and was amazed by just how red it was. Despite everything they had done to clean it, it was still stained through. Nothing was askew in the building. The knife believed to have committed the crime had already been taken to the department. There was nothing that could have been found.

"I found her notebook," a voice called from above.

Jane looked up and found a tiny blonde staring back at her. The thief known as Parker was sitting on the rafters and staring at the kitchen floor. Her face was scrunched up in confusion and she was indeed holding a notebook, blessedly with black gloves.

"May I have it?" Jane asked.

Parker shook her head and held the notebook tighter to her chest. She pointed to the bedroom and continued shaking her head.

"I opened the safe hidden beneath her bed," she explained, "You guys weren't going to be able to find it even if you looked. She used a fiberglass encasing and hid it beneath the floorboards."

Jane smiled at the thief's help. She walked over to the indicated area and immediately set to work. She pulled out every baggie she had and pulled all the information out of it. Surprisingly, none of the objects were cash or identities. They were all notebooks and files on past victims. Information on a certain Joshua Hughes was in the top file. The rest were filled with various pictures of the team. That didn't make sense. Why would the grifter store surveillance photos right where the mastermind could see them?

"I stole some of them from Eliot's," Parker replied.

The detective jumped at the sound. She slammed her head into the bed and allowed a stream of curses to whip past her lips. Then she slowly turned towards the smiling thief.

"Can you tell me where?" She asked, "I need to make sure you got everything."

"Except you need a warrant to search his house," the thief sighed, "This way you don't need the warrant. You save paperwork and time."

"Are you sure you got everything?" the detective asked.

"I'll make sure of it," a male voice called from the door.

Jane jumped again. Then she rolled her eyes at the sight of Alec Hardison with his arms crossed against his chest. She allowed a few choice words to escape her lips again. Parker giggled at her actions. She looked happy for the first time since the detective saw her. Well, at least that's what she guessed from the tiny glimpses she caught of the thief stealing different possessions from the regular uniforms. The only reason she wasn't arrested was because she put them back straight away.

"How did you get past them?" The detective demanded angrily, "They know not to let anybody through."

"I showed them my F.B.I. badge," Hardison shrugged, "They argued and I dared them to tell you I was here. They're afraid of you, by the way."

Jane rolled her eyes and Parker giggled harder. This was exactly what she wanted.

"Well," Jane said, "If you guys don't get out of here than the evidence you just showed me won't be admissible in court."

"No problem," the hacker winked, "The F.B.I. is only here as inquiry about the victim. We have complete faith in the Boston Police but we want to make certain we get custody of the victim, a world renowned art thief wanted around the world, when this case is over."

Jane stared at him in complete and utter shock. She had forgotten how good these criminals were. Hardison was rumored to be a genius and his arrest record seemed to be proof positive. It made sense that he would go through the trouble of memorizing the protocols of every single detection force in the world. So she just shrugged and played along.

"Yes," she said, "That's fine. Whatever, I've got to get this evidence over to the office and file it away. With this we might be able to buy you guys some time to get away."

"And we'll be free to find Joshua Hughes," Hardison nodded.

"We'll get him here, detective Rizzoli," Parker said, frowning slightly.

"I'm going to need that too, Parker," Jane said, motioning to the notebook in her arms, "It could contain very important evidence."

The thief clung to the notebook tighter at the detective's words. She looked towards the hacker for help. He nudged his head forward and gently pushed her towards the detective. The thief shrugged, sighed and handed over the evidence.

"I'll take good care of it," Jane promised.

The thief opened her mouth to reply. She was interrupted by a cell phone ringing. The hacker made a motion to check his phone. He stared at it in confusion before he took notice of the detective. He rolled his eyes and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly, Jane's pants were vibrating uncomfortably. She grabbed in annoyance. She was just about to hit the end call button when she read Nathan Ford's name.

"Ford," she answered.

The thief and hacker immediately tuned into the conversation. The thief was beside the detective in seconds while the hacker obligingly tried to keep her at a distance. They were holding their breath and praying for a miracle. Apparently they had forgotten their coms this time around. They made no sign of being able to hear the current conversation. Their eyes were full of fear.

Jane listened to the mastermind's words very carefully. She schooled her features to betray no sign of emotion. Then she answered him with a polite, non-committal answer. She pressed the phone closed and ended the very short call. Both of the thieves were staring at her with wide, worried eyes.

"What happened to Sophie?" Hardison demanded bravely. The fear was even in his voice. He probably had no idea how close he was holding the thief.

Jane smiled towards them with hope shimmering in her eyes.

"She's awake."

%

Korsak was currently sitting at his desk, reading through Joshua Hughes' file. Nothing out of the ordinary was catching his attention. The man had a regular childhood; private school, prep school, and then the best college his parents' money could buy. In fact, the only blemish to the guy's name was the fact that he was caught smuggling guns out of the country. That was obviously Ford's doing. Nobody was honestly dumb enough to accidentally invite every police force in the state to a bidding war. So how was this guy able to get to Ford's grifter?

Maura Isles decided to make an appearance just when Korsak finished his reading. The good doctor had a knack for showing up when a puzzle needed solving. She was even kind enough to sit in the chair directly in front of him.

"I know that face," she said.

"We've got a problem," Korsak agreed, "because this Hughes guy has no signs of being capable of arranging this kind of a hit. He doesn't even have a good enough college GPA. to be worthy of their kind of ambush."

"Obviously he's smarter than he looks," Maura sighed, "Maybe he had some connections in college that they missed."

"I don't think so," Korsak shook his head, "Alec Hardison does some amazing research."

"Then they missed a sign right in front of their eyes," Maura nodded. Then she held out her hands for the file. Korsak obliged her immediately.

He watched her use that impressive brain of hers. Her nose scrunched towards the left as she tried to piece the puzzle together. She suddenly perked up and pointed to the very simple thing in the top right corner.

"It says here he has no living family members," Maura explained.

"Yeah," Korsak nodded, "His father died in a plane crash and his mother died at childbirth. What of it?"

"His accounts were frozen after his arrest," the doctor replied.

"That's right too," Korsak agreed, snatching the file away and urgently dialing a number.

"So who paid for his lawyer?" Maura questioned softly.

"Yeah," Korsak said, speaking cheerily into the phone, "It's Korsak. Could you get me my buddy, Officer Hopper? Hey, Jonas, how have you been? Yeah, well I'm currently working on a murder case and I think it has something to do with the Hughes' case. Could you send me all the information you have on his trial and his lawyer? It didn't arrive in his arrest report. Of course, why would it? Okay, thanks a bunch, Jonas. You take good care of yourself now."

"So," Maura pressed simply, "What did he say?"

"He's delivering it personally this evening," Korsak smiled, "You think that will be enough time for Jane to get us some evidence to prolong the case?"

"It better," Maura sighed, "but if not I might be able to."

"How?" Korsak asked.

Maura rose to her feet and grabbed her purse. Then she tilted her head to the left in thought.

"I think I'm going to double check the hospital's reports of Ms. Devereaux's injuries," she said.

"You're not doing anything illegal, are you?" Korsak asked worriedly.

Maura shrugged, "I hope not."

And just like that, she was gone. Korsak was left staring after her with worry. Something bad was about to happen. It had to be.