So this chapter took me forever and I cannot figure out why! There's a couple different pieces to it, but the first part was just fun that I've been wanting to add.

Sophie sat on Nate's couch, a mug of tea on the coffee table and a book in her lap somewhat forgotten. She was having trouble focusing at the moment, somewhat because she was thinking about her team. Eliot looked out for their physical safety, Nate guided them, but Sophie always made sure they were okay. She was the encourager, the supporter, and the nurturer. It went beyond Anna even if Anna was her main charge.

Parker and Hardison's relationship made her slightly nervous. Parker was fragile but so was Hardison and the entire thing made her worry. No one wanted her little family to be happy more than her but she wanted to be sure they stayed happy, but she worried about someone making the wrong move. Parker suddenly deciding she wasn't ready for the relationship or Hardison getting frustrate at how long it's taking to get anyway. Everything was a baby step for them.

Then there was Eliot and Anna whom were off in her apartment preparing dinner. Eliot had been going easy on Anna in a lot of ways lately and that told her he was still fighting with the weeks before. Not that anyone was over the fact they nearly lost Anna but Eliot was taking it differently. Where he was usually the one who really made sure she was holding her own, he's started stepping in for her. He even went easy on her over the whole stealing his car ordeal. When someone on the team got hurt, be it on a con or not, Eliot felt like he failed at his job. Sophie understood that. That's why she suggested Anna to go spend time with Eliot of the day.

Still, she was just…

"Stop worrying," a voice said from behind her making her jump. She twisted around to see Nate walking down his steps in jeans and a button up shirt. Secretly, she loved seeing him like that. Barefoot, sleepy, and not drunk.

Her lips twitched into a slight pout. "I'm allowed to worry," she told him. They were her kids. It was in her job description to worry. "I just have stuff on my mind."

Nate smiled at her as she made a place for him on the couch. As she leaned into him she captured his lips with hers. She could still taste his minty toothpaste as his hands went to her hips to deepen the kiss. Pulling away, Sophie found it difficult to smile.

"I think we can find a way to get things off your mind," he whispered huskily, his hot breath hitting her neck and creating a fire in her stomach. He gently pushed he back against the couch climbing on top of her, successfully knocking her book on to the floor.

Nate broke away for just a moment to pick it up. He read the title skeptically. "Fifty Shades of Grey?"

She gave him a devilish smile before grabbing his shirt and pulling him down to her lips with surprising force. "You want to me keep reading that."

He didn't linger on her words for very long. After all, when the cats are away…

*Anna*

Sophie pretty well forced Eliot and me to spend some "quality" time together, but that was not always that fun. Especially after I stole his car and threw two mob guys in the back. I had to agree to clean his car, inside and out, as well as cook dinner for the crew with him. I did suspect some more yelling to go along with my punishment, but I wasn't complaining too much that he didn't have much to say about it.

I had a rolling pin and pizza cutter out and was in charge of flattening the dough and cutting it into inch squares. "Dumplings?" I asked him as though he was losing his mind.

He was cleaning the chicken, a job I was extremely thankful he didn't put on me. Without even looking up at me, he replied. "It's my mother's recipe."

Suddenly the image of the blue eyed woman passed in my mind and I nearly sliced my hand. "Pay attention!" he snapped as I pulled my hand away.

I cleared my throat, muttering slight apologizes. Still, my curiosity was beginning to get the best of me. "Will you tell me about her?"

As usual, he didn't look up. "Who?"

Taking a deep breath I prepared for the worst. "Your mother?"

He stopped but he didn't turn around to look at me. "No."

Swallowing hard I nodded and went back to cutting the dumplings. I wanted to pretend it didn't hurt. That Eliot flat out telling me that he wasn't going to tell me about his mother didn't make me ache.

So, I told him about her. "After the… incident with my car," I said slowly watching my hands carefully not only so I didn't cut myself with the pizza cutter but also so I didn't have to look Eliot in the eye. "I saw her. Her and Sam. I know, it sounds crazy. It sounds crazy to me."

He didn't say anything, not at first. We stayed silent, nothing but the sound of a pizza cutter rolling against the dough.

"It's not crazy," he said softly, still not turning around. There was a hint of compassion in his voice, but I think he saw it as weakness so he didn't let it get too far. Still, I continued.

"Laura. She told me her name was Laura. I didn't know it was her at first. But I knew it was Sam," I told him, putting down the pizza cutter and sitting on the barstool. I still wasn't sure why we were cooking in Sophie's kitchen either.

"I take it you didn't tell Nate," Eliot added.

I shook my head, not that he could see it. "She just said that maybe one day you'd tell me about her."

There was a long pause, but slowly he turned around and looked at me. "She was a great mom, a great woman. She died when I was in high school."

Swallowing hard, I nodded. I was sure that the story was ending there so I went back to cutting the dough.

"She had a spit-fire attitude and a heart of gold. She would do anything for anyone," Eliot continued softly. He smiled at me, but it was one of those sad smiles that broke your heart. "She used to tell me that I should fight for what I believe in, she was probably the reason I joined the military. She was," he swallowed hard, "killed. Drunk driver."

Tears were building behind his eyes as a lump grew in his throat. There was a reason he didn't talk about his mother. It hurt. He thought of that moment when Nate broke in his arms when they rolled Anna back into the OR. Before that day Eliot hadn't cried since his mother's death.

He looked into the big brown eyes of the teenage girl in front of him. Two weeks ago he was almost positive he'd never see the goofy grin and bouncy curls coming through the door again. And he nearly lost his little sister the same way he lost his mother.

"She would have liked you," he told Anna as she studied him. "You two would have really hit it off if you could get past each other's attitudes."

Anna smiled a little at him, but he could tell she wasn't sure what to say. That was okay, because she didn't have to say anything. He put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. If Sophie wanted them to bond, they most certainly had.

Taking a deep breath, Anna looked away from him and shrugged a little. "Can I ask you something?" she said carefully, sounding like a little kid.

Eliot raised his head to look up at her again. She was becoming that small person she always did when she was wanting to say something personal, something that she was afraid someone was going to laugh at or seem stupid.

"Sure," he said gently coaxing her out of her shell. Getting Anna to open up was harder than anyone else on the team. She would offer a piece because she wanted to get it off her chest but as quickly as she had opened up and you had to begun to nurse those wounds she snaps shut again and you nearly lose your hand in the process.

Anna continued cutting the dough into the equal squares. "I don't want my name anymore."

Eliot gave her an odd look, but quickly tried to cover it in case it scared her back into her hiding spot. "What do you mean, Ans?"

She set her jaw and closed her eyes. Tears eating at the surface. "I don't want to be Anna Nicole Bonini." She clamped her eyes close. "Nicole. My father's middle name was Nicholas and my mother's maiden name was Bonini."

All he did was watch as the girl stopped cutting. Her hands were braced on the counter, the pizza cutter still in her hand as her hair hung, blocking her face. "Does it really matter what your name is? We know who you are."

Her eyes shot up at him and they looked murderous for just a moment. "You don't have your father's last name. You didn't keep that abusive asshole's last name, why should I keep mine?"

His heart dropped to his stomach. Of course she would know. Anna knew so much more about people than she let on. He never even had to tell her, she could see it in his eyes. She saw the pieces and she was able to put them together as though it was a simple puzzle. It was one of the girl's many gifts. In the civil world she would make one hell of detective or a profiler.

His initial response was to tell her that his situation was different and in a way it was. But hers was not any better.

"Okay," he said slowly, wiping away his anger. "What do you want your name to be? "

She looked up at him. "Anna Devereaux Ford," she said in barely more than a whisper. "That's who I want to be."

*Anna*

I looked at Aaron as we sat in the smoky, shady building. Honestly I could not believe I was doing this. This month alone I had broken so many rules I knew this one would push all of them over the edge, but I wanted to do it. I wanted it.

Aaron was wearing a tight shirt that hugged his biceps and it was times like these that it was hard to remind myself we were just friends. Though sometimes we also crossed the line into "friends with extras" but right then, he was just my supportive friend who knew that my car was totaled and I couldn't drive myself.

This was the part of town that Nate referred to as his father's main business. Just going down to this area put Sophie and Nate on edge, even though they knew I could take care of myself if it came to it. The thing with Boston was if you were Irish you stuck with the Irish and if you're Italian you stuck with the Italians, if you were neither you were free to come and go as you please. But my Italian roots were hard to hide, they could nearly smell it on me. That's the main reason I wasn't suppose to go this into down town Boston.

"Ready?" Aaron asked as I clung onto the image.

I nodded.

There was a little smirk on his lips. "I'm not going to tell you it doesn't hurt, 'cause it does," he told me shrugging.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Crawling up on the bed, I laid on my side and pulled up my shirt exposing my entire stomach. The artist had the image I wanted and he didn't even ask me if I was ready before the buzzing of the gun began and I felt something drag across my skin.

Tattoos were something that were extremely dangerous for a grifter to have because it was something that was permanent. Something that you had to be careful to never show anyone on a con because it could identify you later. Yet, there I was getting one. Having something permanently stained on my skin and it would never go away.

Twenty minutes felt more like forty as a needle moved across my skin. Each time it went over a bone I could feel my entire skeleton vibrate. When it was finally done, I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was definitely worth it.

Aaron put his arms over my shoulders and smiled at me as we walked down the sidewalk to where his bike was parked. "How long do you think you can hide that from your parents?" he asked. "I mean, I would say you of all people could hide something for a long time, but I feel like your parents are like super spies or something."

I laughed at him. "When you put it like that, they could possibly already know."

Aaron dropped me off at Nate's apartment giving my ribs a soft jab just enough to make me hiss and glare. He laughed and hit the gas before I could retaliate. As much as I liked Aaron, there was a reason we were just friends with a little bit of extras.

Nate was sitting on the couch with Sophie laying against him as Phantom slept against her. I found it a little ironic that he was suppose to be my dog but took a very nice liking to Sophie. They both were reading as I walked in. Eliot looked me in the eye and nodded at me. Parker appeared in front of me, offering me some of her plain cereal. I politely declined and moved toward the living room.

It only took a second of me standing in front of the couch looking at them for Nate to finally clear his throat and put down the book, nudging Sophie to follow suit. She closed her book, folding over the corner of the paper to hold her page and sat up. I had both of their full attention.

"Yes?" Nate inquired.

Suddenly I felt two inches tall as I looked at my feet. "I uh… I…" Biting my lower lip, I crossed my arms and barely raised my eyes to meet theirs. "I got a tattoo."

Neither of them responded and I couldn't tell if this was a good or bad thing. Glancing past them to Eliot nodded at me. Just as I looked back to Sophie her face suddenly changed. "You did what?" she yelled getting up so quickly I found myself stumbling back, nearly falling over the coffee table as Phantom and Nate watched from the couch.

My body froze shock and suddenly I was at a loss for words. "I-I-"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Sophie hissed coming toward me her hand going into her hair.

My eyes were burning with tears. So angry that I was actually afraid of her. I fell onto the table, fearfully looking up at her. Her brown eyes were fuming in a way I had never seen before. At least not toward me.

"Do you have any idea what you've done, Anna?" she snapped again staring at me like I had lost my mind.

"Sophie," Nate tried, touching her arm but she pushed him off.

"Tattoos are dangerous! They are identifiers! Someone sees that and your career could be done. You could be killed, do you understand?" Sophie shouted at me, effectively breaking the flood gates and I started crying.

I tried to control them, but Sophie yelling at me made it feel impossible to stop.

Eliot stood by my side. "I told her she could do it. I told her it was okay."

There was murder in her eyes as she turned to him, taking a dangerous step toward him. "You did what?" she hissed so low and snake like I could see Eliot flitch. "Do you realize that you just allowed my daughter to put a permanent mark on her skin? You of all people know how dangerous that is!"

Eliot swallowed hard. He knew he was in trouble. There was no doubting that. It was just a matter of how much trouble. "I told her where to get it. It's in a place that's unlikely to be seen."

"We're grifters!" Sophie said incredulously. "Our body is the number one thing that is seen!"

All they heard was the door slam. No one had even seen Anna escape. Sophie put her hands to her head in realization of what she had done and collapsed against the couch. Eliot stood there and glared at her. "You didn't even ask to see it, Soph. Or ask her why she got it."

She didn't look at him. She just kept her eyes closed and her hands pressed against her face. Parker stared at them and Hardison nudged her to come on but she shook her head. She wanted to see.

"You signed my daughter's death certificate," Sophie hissed looking up at him. "You know that if the wrong person finds out-"

Eliot looked at her, his heart completely in his eyes. "You know I wouldn't put her at risk. No one will find out about it. Besides, I wouldn't let anything happen to her."

Just like that Sophie seemed ready for a fight again. "You say that like you can protect her all the time, when it was proved that you couldn't do that when she was hit in that car!" She was shouting and she didn't care. Tears were pricking at her eyes and her heart was pounding furiously. He needed to know what she felt. "We can't always be there with the safety net when she falls and we can't always pull her away in the lick of type!"

Nate put his hands on her arm and pulled her back, but she shoved him away again this time harder. "Where do you get off having right to give my daughter permission to get a tattoo?"

Fury burned in him as he glared at her. "You're not the only one who cares about her, Sophie. Don't act like you are."

"Why did you let her do it?" she snapped glaring at him.

"Because she wanted something permanent! She wanted something that couldn't be washed away or thrown away. How many times has she not been permanent to someone?"

She blinked at him, not sure if the question was rhetorical or not. "She's permanent to me." It was the softest thing that had come out of her mouth that day. The first of her tears streaked her face.

Eliot shrugged. "You're permanent to her."

Sophie shook her head and pushed past Nate. She had to leave. She couldn't be around them right then. Her heart was pounding as she walked down the stairs to hear the piano playing softly. She stopped in her tracks. The soft tune didn't cover the sounds of familiar sniffling as she continued down the steps.

When she made it to the bottom, Anna's playing stopped. Her hair hung over her face as she sniffled and stared down at the keys.

Phantom was sitting down beside her as Sophie moved closer to her. She sat down beside her daughter, ashamed. Not ashamed of Anna but of the way she acted. She understood now. Reaching out, Sophie cover Anna's hand with her own.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Anna didn't move. She just continued sitting there sniffing every now and then. "Really. I'm sorry."

Slowly Anna got up and moved around the bench. Sophie was just about to stop her when Anna spoke. "You didn't even ask what it is." Her voice was so quiet it was barely heard.

Looking at her, Sophie swallowed hard. "I want to see it."

Anna lifted her head to see Sophie's tear streaked face. With both hands she raised the side of her shirt. The ink took Sophie's breath away. In black was an infinity symbol with the work family written into it in cursive, but there was a circle around that in white ink. The letters were small, but Sophie could read them. It was each of their names. Sophie-Nathan-Eliot-Alec-Parker-Anna. It circled the infinity symbol never ending as well.

"If something ever happens, I want to remember the good," Anna told Sophie as she took her hand.

Sophie stood up and pulled the girl into a hug. "Oh, Anna."

Eliot stood at the top of the steps watching. He looked up to the heavens and smiled. Mothers.

And there you all go. Please let me know what you think!