Okay, SUPER long chapter, I hope you don't mind. There is a lot in this chapter and I maybe should have turned it into two chapters, but I want to know what you guys think. Next chapter I think will be more little sister/big brother Eliot story.
It took about fifteen minutes. All we were going to do was search his room to see if there was any reason this world renown thief was targeting Peggy, but first we had to get into the room.
Tara stepped up. "I've got this, just stay over here."
Sophie gave her a look that said get real. "How about you stay over and let me take it?"
Tara looked ready to argue, but I glared at them both. "Sit down. I can do this in my sleep."
Without waiting for a reply, I pushed my hair off my shoulder and moved past the older women who both seemed a little shocked by my outburst. Still, there was a little pride in Sophie's eyes as well.
Smiling at the girl at the front desk I held up a picture of him. "I was wondering if you could tell me what room this man is staying in," I told her shrugging slightly. "See, I backed into his car in the parking lot and I was just going to give him my insurance information and such."
I could tell that the woman looked uncomfortable about the situation, so I softened my expression. "I know it's probably against the rules, but I just want to be sure he gets the information. I can just slide it under the door if he's not there."
The woman still didn't seem one hundred percent sure, but she did give me the room number. Making a quick nodded, Sophie and Tara held the elevator door open for me.
"Surely Half-Pint didn't learn that from you," Tara said to Sophie. She sounded curt, but I had a feeling that was just her personality.
Sophie didn't answer, but I felt the need to nudge her a little with my arm as I hit the button for the eleventh floor. Still, Tara didn't stop.
"I'm a little more low profile than you," Sophie returned. "I don't always walk in, gun blazing. The little everyone knows about you the better you are."
Tara made a snorting sound and I trying to decide whether or not I liked her. Her attitude frustrated me a little, especially when it was directed at Sophie. I often wanted to remind her that Sophie is the grifter that other grifters are afraid of and I had never even heard of her, so she couldn't be that good. But it was also possible she was a strictly cash type of grifter so I wouldn't.
As we made it down the hallway to the room number I held my cell phone up to the lock and used the electronic app Hardison and I created for occasions such as these. Not to mention he was really impressed with me wanting to do something this tech savvy.
"You're really getting good with the tech stuff," Sophie said proudly as the door lock flashed green and beeped, allowing access.
Tara made another sound of disgust but I smiled up at Sophie anyway. Sophie took the lead, slowly taking in every aspect of the room. "Alright, Mattingly, what is your game?" she said as though he was directly in front of her.
Still, Tara had other plans. She immediately went to the dresser and started shifting through the drawers throwing things out as she went. Sophie spun around suddenly showing her irritation. "What are you doing?"
I ignored them both and quietly searched the room without making a mess of the place.
"Uh, searching the place," Tara said as though it was the obvious answer.
"No, no, no! You can't just barge in and wreck the joint," Sophie hissed. "You have to slow down, get acquainted with the environment."
Tara glanced over at her but continued searching. "What, you're not one of those Boylan touchy-feely-vibe types, are you?"
"The Boylan method teaches us to treat search like a crime scene," Sophie said picking up the pair of boxers on the bed and holding them out like she was going to fold them.
Tara scoffed again. "And you're teaching the kid this stuff?" Tara looked at me but I kept searching, moving everything gently. "You know what they taught us at Quantico? Lightning strike, you never have as much time as you think."
The door beeps and Sophie drops the boxers, I straighten up and we all exchange looks. Tara mouths told you as she takes off running toward the closet. Sophie grabs my arm and pulls me along with her throwing me in with them.
We all three watch as two men start trashing the room searching it out. One was pulling the rest of the dresser contents of the dresser onto the floor while the other took a knife to the pillows. Tara leaned over me and whispered, "Quantico."
Sophie muttered it back, obviously annoyed. Suddenly Tara pulled her hand over her nose and squeezed her eyes closed. Then she started fanning her nose, looking as though she was going to sneeze. Both Sophie and I shook our heads. "No!" Sophie hissed barely loud enough to make a sound.
Wishing someone won't sneeze doesn't keep them from sneezing. But as soon as she did Sophie pulled further away from the door. A gun cocked and I could see a man drawing closer. Sophie inhaled but I prepared myself. Sophie wasn't usually a fighter, she could hold her own if she had to but she was definitely a lover, not a fighter.
The man reached for the door and she slammed the door forward but Tara shoved the door forward into the guy's face. I took the chance and dove at the second man while Sophie went for the gun that had landed in the middle of the floor.
I slammed my fist into the guy's nose grabbing his wrist and hand, squeezing the pressure points between his pinky and ring finger and slammed the guys face into the wall. Eliot taught me how to take a guy out quickly. Without killing them. Unless you have to.
Tara on the other hand was taking her sweet time so I jumped in. I went in securing the crook of my elbow around his neck using my other arm as leverage. The guy tried to throw my off by pushing off the floor and slamming me into the wall. Tara took out the guy's legs out from underneath him, making the guys fall back knocking the guy's elbow into my gut, a little too close to where my stitches were.
I groaned, but held tight until the man went limp. Finally I let go and let a breath out of my lungs. Then I glared up at Tara. "Thanks for the ass kicking," I snapped.
Tara shrugged. "I could have taken him," she said curtly. "I didn't need your help."
"Could have fooled me. Either way, haven't you ever heard of putting the safety of the team first?" I shot back, pushing the guy off me and standing up.
This didn't faze Tara at all. "You weren't actually in danger, you're just a little bruised."
Sophie tossed Tara the gun, but gave both of us a serious look. "You don't trust each other, but you both trust me," Sophie said carefully, playing the diplomat. She looked at Tara. "Just try to play like a team." Then she turned to me. "And be patient."
I gave a curt nod, but that was strictly out of respect for Sophie and Tara just raised her brow. I had a feeling we were not going to be best friends.
"So, it's off to the event then?" Sophie asked, watching us carefully to be sure no one was going to start another argument. We both silently agreed and followed Sophie out the door.
We were nearly to the elevator when I heard a familiar voice. "Let me shoot him, Eliot. Move man."
All three of us exchanged looks. What the hell was Hardison doing here? And why was he wanting to shoot people?
We slowly walked around the corner to see Eliot snatching the gun away from Hardison and stare at him like he was stupid. "I told you not to play with this!" he scolded, kicking out the clip and pocketing it. "If I didn't have to worry about you shooting me I could have got them!"
I smiled at the two men as Sophie cleared her throat waiting to be noticed. They both turned around and suddenly looked sheepish, especially Eliot.
"I thought you were playing poker!" Sophie complained. "Where's Nate?"
"Hey boys," Tara said without much of a smile.
They both muttered a quick hello to her before looking up at Sophie. Hardison looked at Eliot and Eliot looked back at them. Obviously they were preparing a lie. "We were just… we tracked Anna here and we need to borrow her. Can't play poker with police and criminals without a ref," Hardison said quickly, his face on fire.
Sophie glared at him. "I know you're lying, but I'm a little busy to care," she looked down at me. "Go help them out, when you're done just meet us at the event, sound okay?"
I nodded again, tossing one last glare at Tara which she returned with a smirk. They disappeared into the elevator and I looked at the two men in front of me.
"So, did Nate escape after all and now you're trying to find him so you don't have to deal with Sophie? Because I'll tell you what, I already took the lead in pissing her off tonight," I muttered shaking my head a little.
"Close enough," Eliot decided and grabbed me by the arm and started filling me in on the details as we headed toward another room to search.
Nate sat in the basement of the church still angrily contemplating how he ended up at an AA meeting, sitting next to a guy he hadn't even seen in over two years. Of course Nate was an alcoholic but he didn't really care to fix that at the moment. He was a little too fixated on the fact he had the Irish mob after him.
Actually, the Irish mob wasn't after him, they were after Hurley. The poor guy didn't know how to keep himself out of trouble and carrying some drugs across the border for a not so nun Sister Lupe just showed how ignorant this guy was. In a small, small way, Nate actually kind of felt for the guy. He seemed to honestly want to do something right and it just wasn't working. Still, Nate wasn't fond of the guy.
So what if he helped Hurley get sober? Nate didn't want to get sober. In his eyes he wasn't hurting anyone but himself. He was just still coping. Still trying to lick his wounds. But at the moment he had to stop licking his wounds so he'd be alive to lick them later.
He didn't care if it was an act of God that put him in this AA meeting, it was going to take an act of God to keep him from strangling Hurley because of his blunt ignorance.
All Nate needed was a phone so he could get out of this. Then he got an idea. Hurley was going on about his story and the reasons he got clean and sober when Nate suddenly raised his hand.
"Yeah. Hey, I… I'd like to talk next," Nate said carefully, as he stood up.
Hurley nearly jumped for joy. "Yeah! Come on, everybody!" he cheered as Nate moved up to the podium. Suddenly Nate found himself being pulled into another hug, even though he had pretty bluntly told him to stop touching him. "This is the guy that helped me get clean and sober. Which is totally weird because he's kinda messed up himself."
Nate awkwardly got away from the large man and nodded at him. "Thanks, Hurley."
He cleared his throat, trying to think of the best possible way to begin this and get the result he needed. "Well, I drink too much. I mean…" he sighed. "Who can say how much it too much?"
Suddenly everyone's hand in the room shot up and he found himself swallowing his annoyance. Of course they can…
"The point is that I hurt a lot of people. And you people, very special, self involved people…" Shove your belief down my throat, self righteous people. "You pointed out to me today that I need to make amends. You know, and I wish that I could reach out and make amends to say, my ex-wife or my daughter, who I hurt." For a brief second the words felt real, but he swallowed them back down quickly.
Hurley looked at Nate in shock. "Dude, I didn't even know you had a daughter."
Nate ignored him. "Now if I had a cell phone right now, you know, I'd call my daughter up, and I would start the healing process just so all of you could take the credit." And just like that phones were being pushed at him. He smiled at them and kindly accepted one from someone in the front row.
His idea originally was to call Eliot or Hardison, but Anna would take in what he had to say as well call both the boys. He knew Anna was a bit more resourceful and would be able to get passed two mob members without blinking an eye, Eliot and Hardison on the other hand may find that a little more difficult.
Quickly he dial Anna's number.
*Anna*
After searching the room, all we had come up with was a valet ticket and an overnight bag packed for a couple of days. Then my phone started ringing. It wasn't a familiar number, but I still answered it.
"Hello?" I said casiously, taking a seat on the bed.
"Anna? It's Dad." I blinked. It was definitely Nate, but usually he didn't refer to himself as "Dad". Before I could ask anything he started speaking again. "Don't hang up! Don't hang up! Please don't hang up."
I looked at Eliot who was now watching me. "Nate? Are you okay?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the phone. "No, I'm calling. I want to apologize. Need to ask for your forgiveness. From you and your mother. Okay?"
This only confused me more. "Nate, are you drunk?"
"No, I am not drunk," he snapped back defensively. "I'm with Hurley."
"Hurley?" I repeated looking up at Hardison and Eliot. "Who the hell is Hurley?"
Both of them looked at each other. "Hurley?" Hardison said as though testing out the name. "The guy from the rehab job?"
There was a rehab job? Quickly mental noting that as Eliot grabbed the phone and put it on speaker phone.
"Can you talk, man?" Eliot asked as I sat Indian style on the bed.
"I can't say everything I want to say, but I'm with Hurley, I'm in a safe place, and I'm with a lot of really nice, very supportive new friends," Nate said casually.
I think I was the only one who put it together, but I didn't say it out loud. Nate was most definitely in an AA meeting. That would explain the rehab job and the Hurley guy, not to mention the slight edge in his voice if you listened close enough.
"I think we met a couple of your friends. Mexican hitters," Eliot grumbled.
"Yeah, no, no. You know what it reminds me of, sweetheart? I'm actually in the very church I used to take you so you could play piano. The one with the balcony that you love so much?" Nate corrected.
So now we had a location, but we had more than that. "So we've got Mexican hitters and you've got Irish? What the hell's going on Nate?" I snapped trying to put the pieces together but not having the best of luck.
"Yes, dear," Nate sighed, obviously thankful I was putting something together. "It was Hurley that brought me here."
Okay, so we had the Irish and Mexican hitters after this Hurley guy. That much I got.
"I just wanted to basically say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry about the car."
Eliot looked at me. "The car?"
I grumbled. "He's obviously not talking about my camaro. You found a valet ticket, it must be that car."
Hardison ran an impatient hand over his face. "Are you saying there's something in Hurley's car?"
"Yeah, and… sorry about the bag of drugs. I should have never put that on you," Nate continued and you could hear the mumbling in the background. "Wanted to apologize for that."
Eliot nodded. "Alright, we're on our way." I got to my feet ready to follow.
Nate heard them start moving, but he wasn't finished yet. He still needed Anna to get them out of the church. "Anna! Anna, wait."
"Yeah, Nate?"
"Will you meet me tonight? I want to apologize in person," he said softly. Suddenly real emotion hit him. In so many ways he did have a lot to apologize for and not all of it was about his drinking. He wanted to apologize for referring to her as a misfit toy, for not always being the father that she deserved.
"Do you want me to bring Eliot and Hardison?" she asked, obviously not sensing the same emotion.
Still, his words caught in his throat. "No, that's okay. I understand. Just… Anna?"
This time his words hit her, he could tell even over the phone as her tone softened. "Yeah Nate?"
He turned away from the group of people, as though doing so would keep them from hearing his words. "I'm really lucky to have you. You're a great kid."
*Anna*
His words stopped me dead in my tracks as I watched Hardison and Eliot hurry ahead. I smiled softly, even though he couldn't see it. If he had been there right then and said those words, I wasn't sure what I would have done.
"You're a great dad, Nate."
I could hear him cough, the way he always did when he was feeling too much emotion. "Thanks, sweetheart."
I could tell he was about to hang but I had something else to say. "Nate!" I said quickly, hoping it wasn't too late.
"Yes, Anna?"
I took a deep breath. "I love you too."
The breath he sucked in made me smile. "I love you, Ans."
Sophie and I said I love you regularly, but Nate's relationship with me was very different than mine and Sophie's. He was less emotional than Sophie and more shut off. Still, when it came down to it, it was nice to hear him say those words.
The bar was a couple blocks away and I could get a car there. Hopefully Eliot won't mind if I stole his challenger for a couple hours.
Nate put down the phone and took a deep breath. He couldn't get himself to look up at the crowd just yet. But he could hear Hurley and the others applauding him and the terrible, awful word "hug" so Nate quickened his recovery.
Grabbing Hurley by the arm he directed him to the back of the room.
"I'm super proud of you man, but I have to say, I'm a little hurt I never knew about your kid! I mean, I thought we were friends," Hurley told him, shrugging slightly. "Also, you may need to make amends with your wife about having a girlfriend…"
Nate grumbled. This is what he got for being a good guy. "Listen, Anna is coming to get us. She works with us."
Hurley frowned. "You encourage your daughter to break the law, that's kind of considered bad parenting."
Nate was really beginning to get frustrated. "Just shut up and hold tight for about ten minutes."
Hurley didn't argue, but the meeting ended shortly after that and he kept complimenting Nate on how well he did for his first AA meeting. It was taking Nate a lot to remind himself that he can't punch the guy, especially not in church. Finally Nate pulled Hurley up by the arm and dragged him away from the crowd of people that were taking basement exit.
Nate ran up the steps to the front door of the church. Granted he knew this probably wasn't the best exit, but there weren't a lot of options and Anna wouldn't be far behind. What he wasn't expecting was the not-so nun.
"Hurley?"
Both of the men spun around to see a Mexican woman in a nun's habit. Though Nate looked less than please, Hurley was ecstatic. "Sister Lupe!" Suddenly she pulled a gun and pointed at the two of them. Then his entire body language fell. "Sister Lupe," he repeated, this time more disappointed than anything.
"What do you say we take this into the chapel?" she suggested.
Nate didn't argue. She was small, and though he knew better to underestimate someone's size (thanks to Anna) he decided that it was better not to risk gun fire in a church. He nodded slightly and took the he lead toward the chapel.
*Anna*
Sophie would be proud to know I sprinted three blocks in heels in a dress. Though it did bother me that people walked by a sixteen year old in dress and no one even stop to ask if I was okay. Then again, I'm not in Missouri anymore. But as I ran up the stairs of the bar I was a little taken back to see two men standing in Nate's kitchen.
One, if I had to guess, looked like a cop while the other one looked a bit more like a male model, not that I was complaining. I gave them both odd looks, not sure I should just turn around and pretend I didn't just walk into the apartment or continue with what I was doing. Phantom was just watching me calmly from his spot on the floor so I thought it was safe to assume that these people weren't bad.
"Uh, hi?" I said awkwardly, taking my first steps into the kitchen and going for the bowl of keys on the bar.
Both of the men looked at me and I realized I must have been quite a sight after running three blocks. "You are?" the model looking one asked carefully.
I stopped in my tracks and crossed my arms. "I think I'm supposed to be asking you that question." Then it clicked. "You were playing poker with Nate, weren't you?" Finally the older man nodded and I smiled at him. "You must be Detective Bonanno," I said getting back into my charm like Sophie had taught me, politely extending my hand. "I'm Anna."
Bonanno suddenly relaxed and smiled at me. "Ah yes, I was warned about you. The spit-fire rule breaker teenager?"
I grinned at him. "Yep, that's me." I then glanced back at the clock on the wall. Nate stressed the time sensitive manner. "Sorry, as much as I would enjoy a proper introduction, I kinda have to go get Nate out of an AA meeting."
Snatching the dodge keys and a couple earbuds out of the bowl, I took off back out of the door but not without making a mental note to get the male model's name. Damn, he was cute. Then I stopped and threw open the door. I needed one last thing.
I slid into the challenger and hit the gas, not even bothering to adjust the seats. The church wasn't far and I had to get there, get Nate out, give him the car, get back to the bar to get Aaron's motorcycle and then get to the tango thing. This was going to be a long night.
Throwing the car into park right in front of the church, I climbed out and looked at the two men standing in front of doors. Obviously not top level hitters, but they had guns and I didn't. Though, the Irish usually did have strong Catholic beliefs. I could use that.
Taking a few steps toward the church, I gave the two boys my best smile. "You know a church is open twenty-four seven right?" I teased gently.
One thing I took pride in was making an Irishman blush and nothing like making two blush. "We're just waiting for one of our friends," one said quickly.
"Oh, I see," I replied quietly. "Well, I have some to take some boxes into the church if you wouldn't mind helping me. They're just in my car."
One man nodded immediately while the other had a slight hesitation before getting hit in the arm. Giving them another charming smile, I motioned them to follow me. Taking my sweet time to turn the key to the passenger side door, I threw it open and watched Phantom jump out and land on one of the men, growling fiercly while the other struggled to find his gun, which I had already lifted.
Pointing the gun at him and reaching down for the other man's I smiled sadly at them as Phantom got off of them but kept his low growl. "Why don't we make this easy and you two just zip tie your hands and I'll lock you in the trunk. No hard feelings?"
The men only nodded as I tossed zip ties. Sometimes I felt like it was obvious I spent too much time with Eliot.
Phantom was hot on my heels as I sprinted into the front doors of the church, a gun in hand and the other already thrown into the passenger seat of the car. Taking a hard corner into the chapel I turned to see Nate punch out a nun. I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Um… I think you may be going to hell for that…" I muttered, handing Nate keys and an earbud. "Good luck, but I got to go."
"Wait, that's your daughter?" the man I assumed was Hurley asked Nate as I headed back for the door. All I could do was smile as Nate hummed in confirmation.
It was another four blocks to the club to get Aaron's motorcycle and then it was off to the event Peggy was catering. I felt like it had been an hour of nonstop physical running in heels. My feet were probably going to hate me tomorrow but I would deal with it later.
The club was in full swing and I noticed Michael's car was still parked around back, so they were still enjoying the night. It was my night that was getting cut short of all the fun. Groaning slightly, I slid the key into the ignition and threw my leg over the bike. I cursed the fact that I would probably look even worse when I caught up with Sophie and Tara, but I would have to deal with that when I got there too.
Mattingly was selling something and there three men with briefcases as potential buyers. That much they figured out. It just took them a second to explain that to me. A minute they were not very patient with considering there was a bomb and Parker and Mattingly who was once the bad guy but is not reformed as a good guy, even though it was just because he got caught… Anyway.
I was fighting my way through the cloud to see Sophie on the phone while Tara watched her, actually looking nervous. I couldn't help but smile a little at that.
Tara shot a look at me. "Wipe that look off your face unless you have something helpful to say."
Sophie glared a both of us but stayed on the phone. "Yes, it's a bomb," she clicked the phone onto speaker phone and held it out for us all to hear. "Now, just stop playing with that dog and help us!"
I looked over at Tara and she glared at me. "Have any bright ideas, Half-Pint?"
"We can hope your huge ego can cover the blast," I shot back only to get hit in the arm by Sophie.
"Stop arguing and help!" she snapped at us.
Hardison sounded panicked, but I had a feeling it wasn't for us. "That a Radicova Night Train. Um, it's very sophisticate work. Ok, you see… you see the… the three wire on the front panel?"
I knelt down to get a closer look and Sophie nodded. "Yes."
"Okay, Anna's with you right? Tell her to cut those wires in this sequence: um, um, primer, reactor, ignition time." Sophie looked at me to be sure I was getting this, and I nodded. "But… but first you got to figure out which one is which. So get a nail clipper. Strip the wires. The live one, that's the ignition timer. But don't cut it yet. Strip… Strip the wires, okay? If she cuts it the bomb will blow. Are you still with me?"
I blinked at Sophie. Uhhh…. We had less than twenty seconds, not ten minutes. Sophie realized this as well, but we weren't going to tell Hardison that. "Three wires, in sequence. Strip, don't cut."
All three of us exchanged looks. "Plan B..."
We all three glanced at each other as the timer hit five seconds. We took off running, pushing the cart toward the window. We dove back as the cart flew through the glass shattering it and the bomb exploding, seventy-five feet in the air.
Sophie and Tara took a seat at one of the tables and poured themselves a drink while I threw my head against my forearms and closed my eyes.
"I don't know if y'all are gonna make it…" Hardison continued on the phone as Sophie tossed it on the table.
"That is the first thing we've agreed on all night," Sophie sighed, raising the drink to her smiling lips.
She and Tara clinked glasses and Tara kicked me under the table. "How are you doing Half-Pint?"
I was too tired to fight with her, but the truth was, I think I was done with that. "You're not too bad Tara," I said finally, looking up at her.
She smiled at me a little, then turned to Sophie. "Where'd you find this one? Maybe I'll take on a pupil. Pass on the skills of our trade."
Sophie smiled at me as I went back to resting my head on the table. "It's not always this much fun."
Much to Sophie's displeasure I took Aaron's bike back to the bar where I caught up with Sophie and Parker just as Peggy getting ready to leave. "You know what, Marge?" she said turning to Sophie as I walked in and looked at both of them sleepily. "You should come too!"
"Come where too?" I mumbled zombie walking over and leaning on Sophie.
"Book club!" Peggy said excitedly. "And you are?"
I blinked at her getting too tired to think of the right thing to say. "This is my daughter Kendra," Sophie told Peggy as she wrapped her arms around me.
Peggy gave me one of those how cute type of smiles. "Well, Kendra, you're more than welcome to join too. I'm sure you're old enough to read The Contortionist's Daughter."
"Okay," I said trying sound cheery when the mere title of the book did not at all sound like my type of light reading.
"Well, bye," Peggy said cheerily as she headed toward the door and I took a seat on the bar stool next to Sophie.
Parker pushed a Sprite my way and I nodded a thank you. It was an exhausting day and it did leave me a bit on the parched side.
"Marge?" Sophie snapped irritably, even I knew it was a name that Sophie plainly didn't care for. Still Parker looked a little torn.
"I had to come up with something…" she tried but sighed and poured herself another drink. "I know. I know."
Sophie took a deep breath and gave Parker a gentle smile. "Listen, Parker. I wanted to apologize about giving you the cold shoulder about Hardison earlier."
Parker smiled at her back, but it wasn't one of her usual goofy smiles. It was a smile of patience and even thoughtfulness. "Oh, that's okay. I think I figured it out. I mean, I was worried at first, 'cause Hardison and I are different, the stuff we like. But I just spent all night with Mattingly, a guy who likes all the same stuff I do. And you know what?" She looked at Sophie and she may have even blushed a little. "It would have been more fun with Hardison. So I guess the same is boring."
Lifting her glass to her lips Parker glanced at Sophie. "Where is Mattingly, anyway?"
Sophie and I exchanged looks with small grins. "Oh, he took the cab behind us."
"I thought that was Tara's cab," Parker said looking a bit concerned.
"Oh, it was," I told her grinning a little more than I should.
Parker gave us a strange look, but Hardison walked in just in time to stop her from asking anymore questions. I looked up at him sleepily. "So, everything turn out alright with Hurley?"
Hardison blinked as though he had completely forgot. "Oh, yea. We're good. Hey Parker, do you want to go…"
Parker lit up. "Yeah! Let's go."
Sophie and I both smiled as Parker jumped over the counter and put her arm through Hardison's. He stood there for a moment as though still not sure if he should move, but finally he just smiled. Together they walked out the door smiling like children.
"So," Sophie said looking over the top of her wine glass at me. "How many rules did you break tonight?"
Reaching for glass of wine, putting it to my lips and taking a long gulp, I smiled at her. "All of them."
She shook her head. "You know, you really are going to have to start obeying the rules. At least the important ones."
Sobering slightly, I nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. No more clubs. But, uh, do we have to tell Nate?"
Sophie smiled at me. "I'll let this one slip if you promise that you will start telling me where you're going."
Giving her my best smile, I pulled her into a hug and closed my eyes as my head rested on her shoulder. "Promise."
Just then Eliot walked in. "Have you met-"
I turned around and saw him with a very familiar looking girl on his arm. "Sister Lupe?"
Suddenly her tan cheeks lit up. "I'm not really a nun…"
Sophie blinked at us in surprise, obviously left out of the story but Eliot didn't give us time to ask questions. "We're out, I'll see you two later," Eliot said but stopping at the door. "And we're going to talk later about you driving my car and throwing two Irish mob people in the back."
Sophie looked at me in shock again, but Eliot was already out the door and I was already on my feet grabbing for my maroon leather jacket. "See ya later," I told her giving her another quick hug. "Love you."
"And where are you going?" she asked curiously.
Holding up the keys to the motorcycle I grinned. "I have one night with this thing and I'm going to enjoy it!"
Sophie didn't argue and just shook her head as she watched he daughter head out the door. That girl was special. Picking up her wine glass, she headed to the backroom only to see Nate sitting at a table alone. Smiling flirtatiously at him, she took the chair beside him.
"Come here often?" she teased leaning into him.
"Perhaps a little too often," he muttered in reply but opened his arms to her. She could tell there was something on his mind but she was going to wait for him to share it. "Have you ever… I think…" He sighed. "I care about you Soph."
She turned around and looked at him with concern. "I care about you too, Nate." Carefully, she studied his expression, placing a hand on his face. "What's wrong?"
He looked deep into her eyes. He could have told her about how he was starting to really love again. How he was sorry and he wanted to change for Anna. For her. But he didn't. Hurley was a good guy that got himself in bad situations. He tried to better himself. Nate just didn't expect the world to get better anymore.
All that was changing now. He had Anna, he had the team, he even had the girl.
Softly touching Sophie's face, he brought his lips to hers for a gentle, tender kiss. "Nothing."
So.. there we go. Please review! I would really like to know what you think. And what do you think Anna and Eliot should do together?
