Chapter 28
I do not own Leverage & I'm not makin' money off this.
This is only for yours and my entertainment. =)
To all my reviewers…you're Awesome! Even the ones I can't respond to. =)
"I said, I'm checkin' my husband out," Sarah repeated cordially to the nurse in charge.
"But ma'am…I'm not sure…I mean, I don't think that…"
Sarah looked at Peta with a calm smile. The girl couldn't have been more than twenty-three and she seemed to be at a loss for what to do in this situation.
"Peta, I know this is unusual, but under the circumstances, I'm sure you can understand that I don't feel secure with my husband stayin' here any longer," she explained with a warm smile.
"Oh yes…of course…I'm sorry, I'll go and get the attending doctor," she replied before rushing out the door.
"You handled that pretty well," Eliot commented with a smirk.
"I've had lots of practice," she chuckled. "Plus Sophie was a wonderful teacher. So you wanna stick with the sweatpants or do you want jeans?"
"I'll go with the jeans," he answered as he walked towards her. When she turned around with his clothes, he was standing right in front of her. "You've been spending the last hour makin' sure I'm okay. How're you?" he asked softly, searching her eyes.
"I'm fine El, you don't have to worry about me," she assured him with a smile. "Here," she said, holding out his clothes. "Go ahead and get dressed and I'll pack everythin' up."
He took the clothes without looking at them and before she could turn away, threw them on the couch, caught her hand with his and used his other to pull her gaze back to his. "Honesty…remember?"
She sighed. "I'm just…tired. So fuckin' tired of not getting' a break," she admitted. "I hoped things would cool down once we rescued you. Even after…even after findin' out you had amnesia. I thought, 'Hey, at least we'll have down time for him to recover'. Apparently I was wrong."
He had no idea how to comfort her. He was sure that before the amnesia he would have known how to do it perfectly, but now he had no clue. Without a word, he reached out and pulled her to him, encasing his arms around her in a hug.
"I wish I knew how I'd have helped you before all of this. I'm sorry this is all I can offer you at the moment," he murmured in her ear.
She sighed and melted into his familiar embrace, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. "Hugs from you are always good," she whispered, before pulling back and placing a hand against his cheek. "Thank you. You might not remember, but usually hugs from you calm me right down and do the trick. Now go get dressed while I pack." He nodded before grabbing his clothes and going to the bathroom.
"Pull yourself together Sarah," she whispered to herself. "You cannot break down, not now," she stated firmly as she got their things together.
When the nurse came back with the attending doctor, she was placing her laptop in her bag. "Mrs. Spencer? I'm Doctor Lorikov. I was told you wish to check your husband out?"
"That's correct."
"I must inform you that I strongly suggest you not do that. He still needs physical therapy to get back up to full strength and we're still monitoring his skull fracture."
"I appreciate your concern," Sarah assured him. "But I would still like to check him out. I don't feel safe leavin' him here and he can recover just as easily at home. There's nothin' more to do for the fracture other than to let it heal on it's own and avoid any further head trauma. Anythin' Gabe has been doin' with him in therapy, I can do for him in our gym at home," she concluded.
Sarah had to fight not to roll her eyes at the disapproving look the doctor gave her. "Okay Mrs. Spencer, I'll get the discharge papers together." And with that, he left the room.
"I thought he'd put up more of a fight," Eliot commented from the bathroom door.
Sarah glanced over and sucked in a breath at the sight of him. In his familiar blue long sleeved Henley, jeans and boots, he looked as if nothing was wrong. "I take it I look okay?" he asked with a smirk.
"Very much so," Sarah admitted without thinking. "Uh…I've gotta call someone," she said suddenly and turned to grab her cell. She waited for a few seconds before the person answered.
"It's three thirty in the morning. Someone better be bleeding," Gabe greeted groggily.
"Mornin' to you to sunshine. Just thought you should know we're checkin' out."
"What? Why? What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly more alert. Sarah explained what had happened. "Well shit. Okay, so you want me to tell you his therapy schedule?"
"That'd be helpful," she chuckled. She wrote down Gabe's instructions in detail, from what the excersise was and what it did, to how many times and reps.
"In another four days or so, go up a few pounds on the weights. Do you have a treadmill?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Have him start running for ten minutes a day. And keep up with the muscle massages so he doesn't cramp. It'd really help if you had a hot tub," he commented as an afterthought.
"We do," she answered.
"Damn, I need to visit you guys. Make sure he soaks in it for fifteen minutes after his workouts."
"Will do. You know you and Chris are welcome to come visit us whenever…right?"
"I do now," he chuckled. "Thanks beautiful. I'm gonna miss you and that handsome hubby of yours. Tell Hardison I guess it wasn't meant to be and to keep that ass of his in shape."
Sarah laughed. "I definitely will. Thanks Gabe, for everythin'. You're a wonderful guy." They made their final good-byes and hung up.
"You have his home phone number?" Eliot asked in surprise.
"Yep. He gave it to me a few days after he met me declaring that if we were gonna be friends I had to be able to contact him," she answered with a smile. "Here's your jacket," she told him, holding out the soft leather creation that she had bought him in Paris.
"This is nice," he said as he put it on, causing her to smile.
The doctor came back in a ten minutes later with the papers for her to sign and a wheelchair. "I've included some sheets that explain symptoms you should keep a look out for with his head fracture. There's also a printout of excersises…"
"I called his therapist, he gave me instructions," Sarah told him.
"Oh okay," he said, putting away the extra papers. "Peta will escort you to the front doors." At Eliot's look, the doctor continued. "I'm sure you could manage, but it's hospital policy." Eliot reluctantly nodded and sat in it.
They were going down the elevator when Hardison called her cell to tell her they were downstairs waiting. "We're on our way," she told him before hanging up.
As soon as they got in the SUV, Hardison pulled out and headed toward the airport. Sarah looked in the back seat to find Cam and Lily curled next to each other, fast asleep.
"Was there any problems with the cops?" Nate asked.
"Nah, they asked the basic questions. Did I know them…my contact info…what happened."
"And you said Eliot betrayed this Boris Tarasov?" Sophie inquired.
"Yeah, after he worked for Moreau," she answered.
"What'd he do for him?" Parker wanted to know.
Sarah looked back at Cam and Lily. "I'll explain that later," she concluded.
"Do you guys know how weird it is that you're talkin' about me like I'm not here?" Eliot commented from next to Sarah.
"Sorry El," Sarah offered softly.
"Yeah man, we just wanna know what's gonna hit us and how bad it'll be," Hardison explained.
"Nah, it's fine. I understand. Just thought it was a little strange is all," Eliot admitted.
Once at the airport, they checked the car back in and between the five healthy adults, managed to get all the luggage, two half asleep children and a weakened hitter through security and to the gate on time.
The flight attendant took Sarah's tickets and smiled. "Welcome aboard Mrs. Kempsted. Your family's cabins are upstairs," she told her, gesturing to the stairs.
Sarah's eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at Hardison who looked satisfied with himself. "What? This is a thirteen-hour flight. I am not tryin' to sleep in one of those reclining seats in business class. Besides, this way, there's a lounge we can use, as well as a bathroom with a shower," he explained.
When they made it to the top floor and took in the area available to them, including the smaller rooms off the lounge that had seats that folded down into double beds, they smiled brightly at the idea of being able to sleep comfortably.
"Are you sure this is an airplane?" Eliot asked in wonderment.
"They started making 'em like this in 2011. They just keep getting' better," Sarah told him.
They all strapped into their seats and readied for take off. After the plane was at safe cruising altitude and the fasten seatbelt signs had gone off, Sarah went to help Cam and Lily get ready for bed, as Eliot pulled the bed down. Once in their pajamas, she helped her half-asleep children into bed and covered them with a sheet.
"You and dad okay?" Cam asked sleepily.
"Yeah sweetie, we're fine," she replied as she leaned down and kissed both of them.
"M'kay," he answered drowsily, before dropping off to sleep.
Sarah smiled before shutting the cabin door and turning to the others. "Why isn't there anyone else in here?" Sarah asked.
"There was only two other cabins in this area so I booked them. Figured we'd need the privacy to talk," Hardison added.
They all removed their jackets and got comfortable on the couches for the discussion they were about to have.
"So who is Boris Tarasov?" Sophie asked as she settled next to Nate.
Sarah looked at Eliot. "I hope when you remember, you'll forgive me for tellin' them."
Without hesitation, he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "Don't worry about it. If it helps to figure out what's goin' on, I'm sure I'll forgive ya," he told her. "Who knows, it might help me remember somethin'," he added with a soft smile.
"It's just so weird," Parker commented from next to Hardison. Everyone looked at her for an explanation. "You're not usually so…nice. It's like you're someone else."
"He's the same person Parker," Sophie explained.
"His memories are there, they're just buried in his head," Nate added.
"Why can't you just get them out?" she asked Eliot. "You're a retrieval specialist."
"It doesn't work like that momma," Hardison told her softly.
"I just don't get it," she admitted in frustration, causing Hardison to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
Everyone turned to Sarah for her to continue. "After El got away from workin' for Moreau…well let's just say he wasn't happy. No one had ever just left his employ. If he wanted them gone, they'd just disappear. So of course, Moreau went after him. A year later El came across Boris Tarasov who had heard of his reputation. He offered El a deal…work for him and he'd get Moreau off his back. So El began workin' for Tarasov…collecting money from people that owed him, finding people that tried to screw him over, and even killin' people when told to," she finished softly.
Parker's eyes went wide, as did Sophie's and Eliot's, but he quickly recovered.
"How did Tarasov get Moreau to back off?" Nate wanted to know.
"He never told Eliot," she replied. "Tarasov didn't realize that he was bein' watched though. Interpol had a man inside that had been monitoring his activities for two years. Tarasov used his business as a cover for manufacturing and supplyin' drugs all over Russia. But the agent fell in love with his daughter and she with him. By that time, he had gotten all the evidence needed and had convinced her to leave with him. Tarasov found out of course and sent El to retrieve his daughter and kill the agent. He tracked them down easy enough. But you couldn't do it," she said, looking at her husband.
She finished the story looking at Eliot. "You told them that he was lookin' for 'em and had sent you to kill him and take her back. You walked away after that and disappeared. Unfortunately, a week later they died in the fire that burned down his apartment."
"Tarasov?" Nate asked, to which Sarah nodded.
"He killed his own daughter?" Sophie asked in shock.
"He needs to be hurt," Parker concluded.
Sarah fought back a yawn as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"I think for now we should all rest," Nate suggested, having seen her struggling.
"Sounds good," Sarah replied as she stood up. "You comin' El?"
He looked surprised for a moment at her blatant invitation, but recovered quickly. Not before Hardison could chuckle in amusement however. "Yeah, I'm comin'," he replied getting up to follow.
When he entered the small cabin, he smiled at the sight that awaited him. Sarah had apparently lost her fight with fatigue, as proven by the fact that she was fast asleep already and hadn't even bothered to get comfortable.
Being as gentle as possible, he removed her shoes and socks, then pulled the sheet from under her and covered her with it. He removed his shirt, boots and socks, leaving him in just his jeans and tank top, then slipped under the sheets next to her and drifted off to sleep.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Eliot woke up slowly to the pleasant feeling of someone curled against him. He looked down to find Sarah using his shoulder as a pillow with her arm thrown across his chest. He also realized that his arm was wrapped around her, almost protectively.
In the lounge, he could hear Lily getting impatient for them to wake up and the others fighting to keep her from their cabin.
"Sarah? I think the natives are getting' restless," he murmured, trying to rouse her.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled.
He began to chuckle, but was shocked when a similar memory flashed through his mind.
"Sarah?" He whispered as he brushed her hair from her face.
She mumbled, "Five more minutes."
He chuckled and laid a kiss on her head. "As much as I'm enjoyin' this sweetheart, I think we should get up now."
She lifted her head and looked at him sleepily and then realized the position they were in. She jumped up and off of him. "Oh god, I'm sorry."
He smiled at her, "You didn't hear me complain' did you?"
"Mama! Daddy! Are you guys up yet?" Lily called out as she knocked on their partition door.
Sarah bolted upright at the sound of her daughter's voice. "I'm up, I'm up," she declared, still somewhat groggily.
"I told you not to bother them Lil," they heard Cam admonish as he apparently shooed her away from their door.
Sarah rubbed her eyes and finally took notice of the position they were in. "Sorry," she murmured sheepishly. "I hope you weren't uncomfortable," she commented as she sat up.
"No need to apologize," he assured her. "I didn't exactly hate it," he admitted with a smile. "I seem to recall a similar situation. "We fell asleep on a couch?" he asked unsure.
She smiled, recalling the incident. "That was when we first met. We weren't…together yet. We fell asleep watchin' somethin' on Discovery, I can't remember what," she explained. "It's good that you remembered," she added with a smile.
They got dressed and joined the others in the lounge, only to be accosted by their youngest. "Mornin' mama!" she said hugging her. "Mornin' daddy!" she greeted, giving him the same treatment.
"You're in a good mood," he commented as he returned the hug.
"She always is. She's a mornin' person," Cam explained from the couch. "There's food over there," he told them, gesturing to a table lined with fruit, salads, sandwiches and raw veggies.
"We feedin' an army?" Sarah joked as she headed over to get a plate.
"What time is it?" Eliot wondered aloud as he grabbed some food.
"Accordin' to the time zone we're in, it's almost noon," Hardison answered from the couch.
"I can't believe I slept that long," Sarah commented as she sat down with her lunch.
"A lot has happened in the last twelve hours, you needed your sleep," Sophie assured her.
She and Eliot ate quietly as they watched Hardison and Cam play a racing game on the television. Lily had successfully talked her mom into letting her explore the plane with Parker and Nate and Sophie sat on the other couch talking softly.
"HA! That's three for me and two for you Uncle Alec," Cam proclaimed happily.
"Five out of seven," Hardison demanded.
"I'll give you one more game, then I'm playin' the winner," Sarah told them as she put her plate away.
"You like video games?" Eliot asked as he joined her to set his empty plate down.
"Oh yeah," she chuckled. "It confused you to no end wonderin' how you could fall for a female version of Hardison."
"So I didn't know much about electronics and I didn't play video games?"
Hardison snorted. "The one time I got you to play one with me, it was a fishin' game. You sucked," he concluded with a wide grin.
"Maybe I should try to learn so I can take you down a notch," Eliot suggested with a smile.
Everyone in the room jerked their heads up and looked at him as if he'd gone mad.
"What? A guy can't learn new skills?" he defended with a mischievous smirk.
"Well I don't see why not," Sarah told him warmly before looking at Cam and Hardison. "Okay boys, your turn is up. Time to teach my husband how to kick your butt Alec," she stated as she took Eliot's hand and led him to the couch.
Hardison was in shock. "But…he don't…I mean he doesn't…he hits things," he finished lamely.
"That was weak," Cam told him.
As Sarah began showing Eliot the controls for the game, Sophie and Nate watched on with amused smiles. "This is definitely different," Nate murmured.
Sophie chuckled. "I have a feeling Hardison is in trouble."
I took some liberties with the flight they were on, cause this story is 8yrs in the future.
Just take a look Singapore Airlines A380, it's like a freakin' hotel.
I realized that I accidentally gave Eliot 2 different bdays…for this story it's July 13.
Reviews make Eliot VERY happy. =)
Jen
