This chapter is much less dramatic than the past ones. Thank goodness right? Those chapter are emotionally exhausting for me!

Sophie was in Nate's bathroom applying lipstick as I straightened my hair and brushed on blush. Nate was not happy that we had taken over his bathroom, but he wasn't really complaining either. At least we cleaned up after ourselves. Usually he would just mutter something about no one respecting his stuff and move on.

"So, where are you going tonight?" she asked me as I stole her lipstick and put it on.

"I love that we have the same skin tone!" I told her smoothing the fabric of my grey dress, before checking my mascara for clumps.

Sophie stopped fiddling with her hair and turned her attention to me, giving me a hard once over. "Anna, you're avoiding my question."

I placed her lipstick back down on the counter and batted my clump-free eyelashes. "Nothing bad, I swear. But you told me I had to find something to do since you're going out and Nate's playing poker with the boys."

She looked concerned. "You and Parker aren't doing something, are you? Because I really don't want another ER trip. Your stitches only just came out."

I groaned. "No, Parker is hanging out with some Peggy chick."

Sophie looked impressed but I still wasn't off the hook. "Nothing too dangerous, no drinking, and please don't get caught," she told me kissing my forehead and heading back down the steps.

"Wait a second!" I called after her, following her down the steps. "What makes you think I'm going to go do something illegal?"

Sophie stopped on the steps, nearly making me collide into her. "You're either doing a con, by yourself, which means I'll kill you," she said leaning against the railing as she studied me. "Or you're going out with a boy that you have yet to mention to any of the men in this apartment because I haven't heard any hostile comments."

She took a deep breath and put both hands on my face. "Whatever you do, just please, please, stay out of trouble and do not get hurt."

I sighed irritably. "Why do you always say that?"

"Because trouble seems to follow you," Nate said as he walked by the staircase not even looking up at us. "Listen to Sophie," he added even though he had obviously not heard a large portion of the conversation. Sophie just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"At least he knows to agree with me," she muttered.

"Sophie!" Parker called as we reached the kitchen. "Sophie, I need to talk to you!" she said as Sophie fished her bracelet out of her purse and buckled it on her wrist.

"Not tonight Parker," Sophie sighed as I took pulled a stray hair off of Sophie's white dress. Her dress did make me curious as to where she was going even thought I was pretty sure she wasn't going out to see a guy.

"Not even for a little while?" Parker whined.

"Uh-uh. I told you. I have plans," Sophie chided examining me and my outfit one more time, checking me for flaws. Sometimes I felt more like a doll than a daughter.

Parker groaned and looked at me. "How much do you know about boys?"

Sophie cut in before I could even answer. "You are not going to a teenager for relationship advice. We'll talk tomorrow Parker."

I glared at Sophie. "Yeah, so she should ask the forty something year old single-" The look I got from Sophie was so hellish I cowered. "I'm sorry. I love you." She kept the glare until I hurried away nearly colliding with Hardison and a card table. "Shutting up!" I felt safer with a counter top between us.

Nate appeared again. "I just got a phone message from Detective Bonanno, saying that he… he wants to come over. He's—"

Then he saw the card table set out. I glanced at Sophie. Did she not tell him about the poker game? The expression on her face told me she was prepared for this fight.

"Your father had a poker game for thirty years. Police, criminals at the same table. This is good for you," she insisted.

"Yes, I want to be like my father. Good insight, Sophie," Nate snapped sarcastically. Then he looked at me. "Where are you going?"

Hurrying around to the other side of the counter, I decided that dealing with Sophie's anger was better than answering Nate's question.

Eliot raised his eyebrow at Sophie. "Nice."

She just brushed it off, because deep down Nate knew he needed some sort of socialization.

"You know, living inside your own head, Nate, only having conversations with your crew, that ain't right," Eliot told him as we all watched Nate go for a glass and some scotch.

We all made a sound of agreement. "Name one person you can have a conversation with who isn't on this team."

Nate turned around ready to retort, but we all glared at him. "And don't say Maggie!" we all snapped at once.

"Look, I got my buddies that were in the service. Hardison's got his little internet friends. They're all elves and gnomes…" Eliot went on.

"Orcs! They're orcs!" Hardison growled making Eliot just roll his eyes.

"And Anna's got…" he looked at me funny. "She's sixteen, she's got time to find friends."

I gave him an irritable look. "Hey! I have friends! I'm going out tonight!"

Nate looked at me. "Which bring me back to where are you going?"

Sophie stepped in for me, I could tell she was trying to give me a small amount of freedom. "I have dinner plans. Even Parker's meeting a friend tonight," Sophie told him, putting on her coat. She smiled a little as he noticeably check her out with a hint of concern for who she was dressed up for.

Parker nodded with pride. "Mm-hm. Remember Peggy from the jury thing in LA? Technically she's Alice's friend."

We all sighed. "You are Alice," we all reminded her.

"She moved to Boston last year, so we've been doing brunch and other normal-people stuff," Parker continued not missing a beat.

"And we're all very proud of you," Sophie told her as pulled her hair out from her coat.

Parker looked confused. "For doing brunch? It's not that hard. There are forks."

"So, girls' night out, boys' night poker. It's character-building for everyone," Sophie cheered leaning over the counter to give Nate a brief peck on the cheek. "Have fun," she told him.

I could hear Sophie give Eliot strict instructions to make Nate put forth effort, but I leaned over the counter and pecked his cheek too. "I'll see you tomorrow!" I told him before following Sophie out the door.

"You didn't answer me! Where are you going?" Nate called after us, Parker joining us on our journey to the elevator.

"You've got Phantom tonight!" I called just before Parker closed the door.

"I've got to talk to you," Parker said to Sophie as we stepped into the elevator.

Sophie sighed again. "No, I can't right now, I'm in a hurry."

"No, it'll only take a second," Parker tried, but Sophie was really beginning to get frustrated.

"It's not a good time."

Parker held the elevator open and stared at Sophie. "Wait!"

Sophie groaned. "Parker, in or out? Come on."

"No. You know that thing you do when you fix whatever I'm doing wrong?" Parker said to Sophie looking like a sad puppy.

"You mean advice?" Sophie tried to be patient but I could tell this was only pushing her limit. Parker nodded. "I'm guessing you and Hardison?"

"Mmm. Ok. So, he knows stuff, right? And I know stuff too. But my stuff is completely different from his stuff," Parker rambled making Sophie take a deep breath and glance at her watch.

"Ok. Alright, yeah. It's just typical early relationship jitters, all right?" Sophie said quickly, pushing Parker's arm away from the door and letting the door start to shut. "Just be patient, and soon you'll be… you'll be thick as thieves."

But Parker was quick to stop the door again. "Wait! You haven't fixed me yet and you said Anna can't fix me because she's a kid!"

Sophie whined. "Oh, come on. I'm late and I'm sure Anna has things to do too." She looked at me for help.

I blinked. "Yeah. Of course. Late." I said obviously distracted.

"Can't you talk to your friend Peggy?" Sophie asked, really trying to get out the door.

Parker sighed. "No, she's got a blind date. I'm supposed to go check him out first to make sure iluvpaws72 isn't a disaster."

I could already tell her that with a name like that it was bound to be terrible. Of course, you don't tell Parker that though.

"Who?" Sophie said sounding exhausted by the conversation.

"Obviously one of those online dating things," I told her and she nodded her head blankly.

"They met online on some cat website," Parker began talking fast and let go of the door. "But she doesn't know what he looks like-"

The door began to close and Sophie placed her hand on her forehead. "Good night, Parker. Have a good night."

And then the door was closed.

I looked at Sophie and frowned. "That wasn't very nice."

Sophie sighed and shook her head. "One night. I just want one night," she said mostly to herself. Then she looked up. "Wait a second, how are you getting where ever you are going? You don't have a car."

Yes, my poor camaro lived a very short life only to be totaled after getting hit and me nearly dying. Sophie didn't mind me driving her car every now and then but tonight it was obvious she needed it. I shrugged. "I can walk. It's no big deal, someone's picking me up."

All night, Sophie had tried very hard to respect the fact I didn't want to tell her what I was doing, but I think she had finally figured it out, at least she thought she had. She gave me a motherly look. "Please be careful, and stay out of trouble."

Then the elevator dinged and Sophie looked at me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You look beautiful, darling." As the doors opened she walked to the back door. "Text me and keep me in the loop with what you're doing. Just please no trouble."

What was I really doing? I was hitting a club with Aaron and his friends. They all had fake ID's, just not quite as legit as mine. Almost as soon as I made it outside, Aaron pulled up on his motorcycle. He smiled at me in my shiny grey dress that came up to a barely acceptably grifter length.

"Looking good, Ans!" he told me tossing me a helmet and I climbed on behind him.

"You say that as though you're surprised," I tossed back as we both grinned.

Okay, so Aaron wasn't every parents dream, but it wasn't like I was dating him. He was my friend. My friend that I tended to get into a little trouble with, all of which was dealt with before any of the team found out about it. Plus, I realized drinking wasn't really my thing, that's why I was usually the DD.

"Haven't seen you in a couple weeks, what happened?" Aaron asked as the engine roared and he smiled at me over his shoulder.

"Oh you know," I shrugged smiling at him. "Stuff."

Aaron laughed. "Anna Clive, why does it seem like you have some secret life or something?" he teased me.

I grinned at him. "Maybe I do."

And just like we were off to meet the rest of the his friends at the club down town.

Sophie held up her glass and smiled at her friend. "To a night of unbridled debauchery," she toasted.

Tara clinked her shot glass against Sophie's martini. "I'll drink to that."

It was great to see her friend again, especially after such a long time. It was hard to believe that it had nearly been two years, but considering how much had happened since then, it was almost like saying it was only two years.

Both women sat at a table in club downtown and neither woman had paid for the drinks in their hands. The perks of being grifters, because there were definitely plenty, and this night was a night to celebrate them all.

Sophie sipped her drink and laid it on the table. "Tara, we've been friends for so long. Why do we never work together?"

Tara shrugged and pushed her hair off her shoulder. "Well, you only need one grifter per crew. Besides, I heard you already have another little grifter, what's her name? Annie?"

Sophie sighed, exhausted just by hearing her name. With everything that had happened lately, she had been so stressed lately that a night out with Tara was a blessing. She loved Anna, more than anything, but sometimes she needed a night off to be the old Sophie she used to be.

"Anna. She's quite the handful at times," Sophie muttered. "But she's good. Better than I was when I first met you."

Tara raised her eyebrow. "Parker told me that she was fun, which meant she's probably a more than a handful."

Sophie gave a tired smile. "She's a great kid."

It was there for only a second, but Tara saw it. "Oh my God. Sophie Devereaux has gone domestic mother on me!" she uttered with shock.

Sophie looked alarmed. "No I haven't! Trust me, I still am the grifter you know and love," she assured her friend.

Tara looked at her skeptically, reading Sophie's face for all information. "And you're dating Nate!" she shot at her making Sophie scoff.

"We're sleeping together not actually dating," she clarified, glancing over her shoulder as habit to be sure no one was listening.

Tara shrugged. "That's the official story, but what's the real story Devereaux?" she pressed, her tone teasing. Sophie knew she couldn't get away with lying to her friend, just like her friend couldn't get away with lying to her. They were pretty evenly matched grifters, though their styles were completely different.

Sophie sighed and reached for her martini. "It's not like you didn't see this happening eventually," she said rolling her eyes.

Tara knew all her and Nate's stories. From the time Sophie saw him to when he came back into her life after her decided retirement. And as much as Tara dislike Nate, she respect him. In small ways she could understand why her friend had so hopelessly fallen for him over a decade ago. Still, she could see something was different with her friend now, especially when it came to Nate.

"Does this have something to do with Anna?" Tara asked gently, sensing her friend's emotion.

Taking in a breath, Sophie thought about that. Then she shrugged. "This was there before Anna, though she has changed him in a way too. She's changed all of us. But Nate and I have always been like magnets. Even after all this time."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Tara understood where she was coming from and envied her. She had never felt like something was pulling her toward someone like Sophie was describing, but she could imagine it had to be a very intense emotion.

Finally Tara sighed and looked at Sophie. "So, let's see a picture of Anna. After all, I'm sure I'll be hearing about her a fair part of the night, might as well have a face to go with the name."

Sophie grinned and pulled her phone out of her clutch and showed her a picture of Anna sitting with her cello, her eyes closed as she was bringing the bow across the strings. Sliding her finger across the screen there was a picture of her grinning at the camera as she sat on the piano bench just finishing up a song.

Tara shrugged, seemingly bored. "Pretty, good trait for a grifter. Still, she's going to have to grow up a little to do much harm."

Giving her friend a soft smile, Sophie shook her head. "Don't underestimate her."

*Anna*

The club was definitely just getting into full swing and I had already politely declined three drinks, telling each of the boys I'm the DD but I did accept the coke that I was given instead. Aaron and Michael had already been done with the original drinks while Tanner and Matt we're taking things much slower. I was the only girl in the group, but I liked it that way. I was also the youngest. Aaron was seventeen, Michael and Tanner were nineteen and Matt was twenty. None of them cared much about my age probably because it tended to slip their minds. After all, I had a tendency of being ageless.

"Anna!" Aaron called to me as he stumbled toward me and I laughed having to catch him not quite stopping him from plowing into me. "The guys said that they can drive me home, care to take my bike back to your place?" he asked offering me the motorcycle's keys. He studied me for a moment. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Not at all!" I told him honestly. "Besides, I don't know how well I can balance a motorcycle with a drunk guy on my back."

We both laughed, tonight was actually turning out to be a lot of fun. Michael came over to me and grabbed my hand. "You're too pretty to not be dancing," he teased me sounding only friendly and not like he was hitting on me. The guys were good about keeping me as just one of the guys, a guy that they weren't afraid to dance dirty with.

He pulled me back toward the dance floor along with Tanner and Matt who were waiting, but I bumped into a chair and nodded a white clutch onto the floor. Quickly I bent down to pick it up. "I'm so sorry," I told the woman not looking at her as I quickly pushed the clutch back on the table as I continued getting drug along behind the guys.

"Anna?" The voice stopped me in my tracks making all the guys glance back at me.

Slowly, I turned around to the owner of the white clutch. I knew that thing look a little too familiar. "Hi, Mom," I muttered, already dropping my eyes to the floor and ready for Sophie to blow up.

I didn't have to look up to see that she was fuming, but what I wasn't expecting was to hear an unfamiliar laugh almost right in my ear. I looked up to see a blond woman sitting across from Sophie. She was pretty and about the same age as Sophie but her features were near opposite. As dark as Sophie's hair was, hers was light, as olive as Sophie's skin, she was fair. Even Sophie's white dress that was classy, business and fun contradicted this woman's black dangerous and sexy dress.

I wanted to say something but at the moment I was a little leery to. In fact, I still hadn't gotten the nerve to look at Sophie yet.

"Anna, what are you doing here," Sophie hissed making the blond only laugh harder.

Taking a quick glance I noticed that all four of the guys I had come here with were looking between me and Sophie, a look mixed with fear and curiousity.

"Aaron, you didn't tell us Anna's mom was a MILF!" Tanner, the usually quiet one said a little too loud. My ears burned with embarrassment while the blond looked like she was going to fall over in her chair she was laughing so hard.

"Guys…" I warned tossing a dangerous look over my shoulder. Matt took the hint first.

"Come on guys, we better go," he muttered pushing his drunk friends toward the door. Good thing at least one of them was half sober.

Slowly, I turned and looked up at Sophie. She wasn't nearly as angry as I had imagined. "Outside," she demanded coolly, collecting her clutch and jacket and directing me with a firm grip on my shoulder. The blond followed behind us as we took the back way out of the club.

As we made it into the ally, Sophie crossed her arms and tapped her foot at me. "I gave you three rules! Three rules! And you do this?"

"I didn't break any of your rules!" I countered, glaring at her. "I didn't drink, I didn't do a con, I didn't get in trouble!"

Sophie raised her eyebrow. "You're in trouble now."

Okay, well she had me there. "Seriously, I was being responsible." I held up my glass. "It's just coke. I was just the DD and really not even that. I'm just taking Aaron's bike home."

This still didn't please Sophie. "It better be a bike with foot pedals and a little bell," she snapped, knowing it wasn't.

"So you're telling me that all four of those boys are just your friends?" the blond suddenly jumped in.

I looked at her, very confused. Who the hell was this chick? "Yes?"

Suddenly she started laughing. "Half-Pint doesn't even know half her skills!" Extending her hand she smiled at me. "The name's Tara, if you want to learn how to use those big doe eyes for evil, I'd be happy to help."

Sophie glared at her friend while I just studied her. "I take it you're some sort of grifter and a friend of Sophie's?"

Tara pulled her hand back and placed it on her hip. "Sophie and I go way back. But I can see why she took you in." She turned to Sophie. "You two actually kind of look alike."

Neither of us said a word to her, Sophie just turned back to me. "You're going home and Nate and I will talk about your punishment."

Just then her phone rang and she answered it with surprising amount of force in her voice. "Hello?" she snapped.

Tara turned back to me, losing interest in Sophie again. "So, what's your poison?" she asked me. When I only responded with a confused look she tried again. "Art? Cash? Jewelry? Just enjoy toying with people? Who were you before you were the team's pet?"

I nearly growled at her and before I could even answer she was laughing again. "You can tell that Eliot's worn off on you some," she informed me.

"I was an artifact mule," I told her, my voice incredibly icy.

Tara's face didn't falter for longer than half a second, but I saw it. Then she was right back to her usual self as Sophie held out a photo on her phone for us to look at. It was a familiar face, but only because of my history. "Craig Mattingly?" I offered Sophie, surprising her a little. "Bad guy. Australia 2007. What's up?"

Sophie hung up the phone. "Apparently that's iluvpaws72. A wanted criminal. So what does he want with little Peggy?"

This time I finally felt a connection with Tara as we both smiled. "Let's find out."

And the fun begins! Hehehe. Our favorite women kicking ass and taking names in the next chapter. Plus, I'm sure we haven't heard the end of Anna's night out either. Anyone else think we can incorporate the motorcycle in somehow?