The Last Dam Job
"As you can see, we should totally keep the Bat Cave."
Nate stared at the hacker in complete and utter disbelief. Hardison had just finished his one hundred one point plan. He came up with reasons to keep the Bat Cave. That wasn't the worst of though, sadly. NO, he somehow managed to pull Eliot and Parker into it.
Parker was an understandable choice. She was always siding with Hardison on almost everything. Their relationship was slowly turning into more than just friends and her heart definitely led her as far as the hacker was concerned. It was no surprise that she was supporting the idea of keeping the hacker entitled Bat Cave. Plus there were high ceilings and tons of dangerous places to hide and play. She was in the very moment they found the place.
Eliot was a completely different ballgame. The hitter very rarely actually sided with the hacker on principle. He loved to mess with the younger man. There was no better big brother for him than Eliot Spencer. The man kept the hacker in check. He loved to bust his chops. And Hardison still managed to get him to side with keeping the Bat Cave.
They were children, three adult children. When did he exactly did he sign up for three full-grown children? Right, around the same time he decided he wasn't his father after all. Yeah, he was definitely regretting conning Dubenich and Latimer into killing themselves. He could have done it himself and completely avoided this headache.
He was such a softie.
"We are not keeping the cave!"
Why did he have to keep repeating himself? It wasn't that difficult to understand. He told them no. He meant no. That should have been the end of it.
All three pairs of eyes immediately fell on Sophie. Great, they were going to Mommy to keep the cave. That just wasn't fair. Especially considering she had those legs in those jeans. Dammit, why did he have to have such smart kids?
Sophie smiled at them sweetly. But her eyes were completely blank. Then she uncrossed and recrossed her legs the way they all hated. She was enjoying the power she held over them and she was letting them know it. OH she was gorgeously evil.
"You heard Nate," she said, "We're not keeping the cave."
Their faces fell immediately. He should have been angry that Sophie's word was final. It was just unfair that they looked to her for every command. On the job he was in charge. For everything else she was the one they consulted. If she said yes then they could get away with murder, even if he said no. Instead he was relieved. At least she was on his side.
"It's just not fair," Parker whined, "We had plans for this cave."
"We were going to install a light signal," Eliot grumbled, "I was going to have a Wolf with a knife sticking out of its tongue."
"Mine was going to be a clown," Parker cheered.
"I was going to have my hacker signal blinking and stuff," Hardison mumbled, "I figured out how to use the sun to power the light signal and make it stronger."
Nate watched the three grumbling thieves pack up their play things. They didn't look happy but they would soon understand it. Too many people knew about the tunnels. They needed to pick a play place that was easy to hide in plain sight. He smiled when he felt Sophie come to his side.
"We're going to have three very upset thieves during out flight out of town," she said, "Maybe we should take a separate flight."
"And have Hardison change our tickets from first class to coach?" Nate laughed, "I'd rather deal with the growling then that. He'll seat us directly between an old couple and a mother with three children."
"About these plans of yours." She looked at him with sad, curious eyes. "What exactly do they entail as far as the team is concerned?"
The team. Of course she would do everything she could to avoid asking about her involvement in his plans. That's okay. He was willing to play along.
"Oh they've got a big part," he said, "Your part is bigger but they're definitely involved."
There was a moment of silence where she allowed herself to absorb the news. She nodded her head and decided to ask the other question that was bothering her.
"So where do we go from here?"
He smiled then. Taking her small hand into his own, he kissed it delicately. Then he made certain her chocolate eyes were staring directly into his.
"I'm going on a boat trip."
That wasn't the answer she was expecting. In fact, she looked a little upset by the prospect of him leaving. In her mind she had only just gotten him back. She wasn't exactly looking forward to losing him so quickly.
"Will you wait for me?" He asked.
A small smile cracked upon her lips. And he knew everything would be alright.
