Chapter 18
Eliot served up dinner, it was prime rib with all the trimmings, Nate's favourite. The talk at the table was lively as they relived some of the times they had had over the years, their jobs, and the impossible situations that Nate had got them into and out of. The house was filled with laughter and some tears as the evening wore on. When they were finished Sophie gave Hardison the flash drive and they all gathered in the living room to watch the recording that Nate had left for them all.
The screen sprung to life and Nate was sitting in a chair in facing the camera, they could all see it was the chair that Sophie currently occupied. Then he smiled into the camera and started to talk, the room fell silent as they listened to the man's final words to them all.
"Well…um…yes well, you know I am not good at this but…well…um…well, I need to tell you all…I…um…." Nate said as cleared his voice and took a sip from the glass of whiskey that sat on the table in front of him. Then he looked into the camera and they could see he was uncomfortable. Nate did not handle emotions and emotional situations well at all. He cleared his voice again and then squirmed slightly in his seat before taking another sip of his whiskey and facing the camera directly.
"Sophie, Eliot, Parker, Hardison…my family. If you are watching this then I am dead. I made this so that I could tell you all how much you mean to me. I don't know what happened, but I am sure that whatever it was it was not due to anything that any one of you did or did not do. I trust you all implicitly and if something went wrong in a con, on a job or anything else it was nobody's fault. We live dangerous lives and we do dangerous jobs and sometimes things go wrong. Now that we have that out of the way…" Nate said smiling at the camera. "I can tell you all how much you have meant to me and how you have changed my life."
Sophie stared at the man on the screen tears gathering in her eyes, even in death he knew what to say, he knew they would be blaming themselves for his death and he had absolved them of any part in it, how did he always know what to say?
"Firstly Eliot. The protector of our little family. You once told me that you searched for a man in the mirror, well I hope in the mornings you wake up and see him again. You are a good man Eliot despite what you think. I know that even if you think whatever happened is your fault it is not. I know that you would protect every person in this family with your life. Eliot when we did that first job I told you that we were not friends. Well that is still true, we are not friends we are so much more, you are a man that I admire and respect. No matter what you have done, what you did in the past, it is what you are now that matters and you managed to turn yourself around, you are a man whom I trust with my life, with the lives of my family and with the life of my wife. I would be enormously proud if Sam…if Sam had grown into the type of man you are today." Nate said and they could all see the emotion on his face as he spoke. Eliot stared and the screen swiping away an unbidden tear as he listened to Nate. "I know I don't have to ask Eliot because I know that you will always protect them, look out for them and be there for them. Thank you Eliot and remember to take care of yourself too because you are a vital member of this family and always will be."
Eliot turned away from the screen trying to control the emotions that welled inside of him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face Sophie who also had tears in her eyes. She pulled him into a hug and felt his arms wrap around her as he held her tight. Then he pulled away and wiped his eyes then nodded to Hardison who restarted the tape after stopping it at a signal from Sophie so that Eliot could regain his composure.
"Hardison. You live in your techno-universe and I must admit I don't understand most of it. What I do understand is that I could always rely on you. I could always trust you, and you always, always came through for us, all of us when the chips were down. You are the smartest man I know Hardison, and that includes me. Through the years you are the one I trusted with my secrets and although sometimes I did not tell you my plans it was not that I did not trust you, it was because I knew you would not approve of them. You have such great potential Hardison and you can be anything you want to be. I know that the future holds great things for you. Trust your family, trust your instincts, and always remain true to yourself. I am trusting you once more Hardison, to make sure that our family remain safe and secure. You were always the one to broker the peace, you were the one to ensure that no matter what happened we stayed together and your belief in this team, this family has always remained steadfast. I know it hurt you that I supported Parker to take over when Sophie and I retired, but that was not because I did not think you could not do the job, it is because I did not want you to be what I had to be sometimes, to have to do what I had to do sometimes to get the job done. You my friend are a good and true man who sees the good in people and I want you to keep that quality. It is what makes you who you are Hardison. Take care of yourself Hardison, take care of Parker and the others, I trust you to keep my family safe always."
Parker reached out and stopped the recording then pulled Hardison into a hug clinging to him tightly as he wept. She could feel his body shake as the emotions overwhelmed him. After a few minutes he pulled back and kissed her softly before wiping away the tears and then starting the recording again.
"Parker you have grown so much, you have become a young woman that I am honoured to number as one of my family. I know you are probably angry and sad and probably blaming yourself for whatever happened, but don't. Parker always remember that I love you, like I would love a daughter and that you mean…meant the world to me. You are a special young lady with exceptional talents and a capacity for love that you have not yet fully realised. Parker I trust you implicitly. I trust you to take what I built and to grow it, take it further than I ever could. I know you can because you are able to put aside your emotions and focus on the problem at hand. Never forget Parker that you belong to something special now, that you are never alone and never will be. Trust them, rely on them, they will help you through everything always. I am trusting you Parker, not only with my legacy but with my family, our family. I know you could never let me down. Take care of yourself too, allow yourself to feel it is what makes life worth living, don't cut yourself off Parker, don't shut down, embrace them and let them embrace you please, for their sakes and your own. Take care of Hardison he is going to need you now more than ever."
Once again the recording was stopped as Hardison pulled her into an embrace and whispered that he loved her, and he would always be there for her. Parker said nothing just clung to the man letting her emotions wash over her. A few minutes later the recording was restarted.
"Sophie. My beautiful wonderful wife. What can I say? I have loved you, well if I am honest I have loved you since that first meeting so many years ago. I remember every detail, the dress you were wearing, the smile on your face as you introduced yourself. I will never forget that day. Sophie we have gone through so much over the years and it took me a long time to admit to myself what you meant to me." Nate said and they could all see the emotion in his eyes as he spoke. "When you were running and I was chasing it was fun, I would actively seek out the cases that involved you just so that we could meet and talk. You were wrong, I was tempted, but I could never…I could never betray the trust that Maggie had in me then and I know you understood that. I loved talking to you my darling, you always knew just what to say, and when Sam got sick…when…when he died…" the recording stopped then for a brief moment as Nate had obviously stopped it to regain his own composure, but continued seconds later. "You were there for me when I needed you, I knew you were at the funeral although you did not show yourself I could feel your support. I never thanked you for that." Nate said his blue eyes awash with unshed tears. "Then that first job, when we worked together I know you were waiting for me to…to make the first move. But I couldn't. I was afraid, afraid to feel again, afraid to love again because I knew that if I let you in and then lost you I would not…I could not have survived that. But you were still there, you were always there for me Sophie no matter how drunk I got, no matter how…how harsh I was you stayed and when you did leave you came back because I needed you, it took you leaving for me to realise that I could not, did not want to let you go, let you leave my life. I also never thanked you for that, for coming back did I?" Nate said softly smiling at the camera. "You have always been my compass Sophie, guiding me through when I lost my way. When I asked you to marry me and you said yes to being my wife you made me the happiest I had been since…well since Sam was born. You showed me that I could love again and allowed me to realise that although I…I thought I had died when he did I had not, you showed me that and allowed me to feel again. It took a long time and a lot of patience on your part and I am forever grateful for that. No matter what happened, you made me happy my love, so incredibly happy and I love you and always will." Nate said his own tears fell unheeded as he spoke to the woman he loved. "Sophie promise me that you will live your life. Find somebody who makes you as happy as you made me. I am gone but you are not. Be happy, be happy and don't waste your life trying to get revenge for anything that happened or…or mourning me, don't do what I did when Sam died, let them, let our family help you through this. I want you to be happy and I will not be able to do that for you now, so…so promise me you will find happiness. Take care of our family, Parker, Eliot and Hardison are going to need you now. You are always the one they turned to and you always will be my darling. Help them get through this and let me go, let me go and allow them and yourself to move on. I love you so very much my darling. Goodbye my love you are the most remarkable woman and…and well I will always love you my darling."
Hardison switched off the recording and looked to Sophie who sat unmoving her eyes awash with tears that spilt over. She looked at Hardison and smiled through the tears and nodded to him to continue.
"So that is it. Remember that I will forever be grateful to all of you for standing by me through everything. Remember that I love you all so very much. You are as I said those many years ago the most honourable people I have ever met, and you are my family, my only family, a family that saved me from myself. Take care of yourself, take care of each other and most importantly be happy."
The recording ended and they all sat in silence. Tara pulled Sophie into an embrace and held on to her as she sobbed letting go of her emotions. Sterling watched the little group. Parker held Hardison's hand tightly as she fought to hold back her tears. Hardison squeezed her hand as he looked at Sophie his tears flowed freely. Eliot stood stoically watching over all of them, but Sterling could see he was also fighting back his emotions. At least Nate had said goodbye to them and told them what they needed to hear, that he loved them, that he did not blame them for whatever had happened and they had a chance to hear what they meant to the man. Sterling then made his way to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of whiskey and six glasses again as he had done before and pouring them each a shot handed them out.
"Nate was my friend. He was a good man who lost his way before you lot found each other. You gave him a gift and he gave you one, all of you. Having a family, having people who care deeply for you, that is a gift." He said then raised his glass. "To Nathan Ford, my friend."
"I…I put something together for us to remember…to remember him by." Hardison said once they had drunk to Nate.
The screen once more sprung to life and images appeared of jobs they had done throughout the years. Fun times, happy times, as the images passed with some of the video clips that Hardison had taken of Nate dressed in costume for con's or them on their holidays and then the wedding and all the family get togethers after that. The video brought more tears and laughter as they relived the last eight years through the images. Then Sophie handed out the envelopes that had been left for each of them.
They all took their seats again and Eliot poured them each another drink as they talked about Nate, what he meant to them and how he had changed their lives. Sterling recounted some of the stories from jobs he and Nate had done together as well, and Tara spoke about the time they had spent together on jobs when Sophie had left the team. The evening turned into early morning before they all said their goodnights and headed off to bed emotionally exhausted from the night's events.