Chapter 14

Nate walked up to the gate and looked at the two men standing between him and Sophie. He knew there were probably more, but this was the start. He nodded and smiled at them.

"What you want?"

"Well I am a little lost…I hope you can help me." Nate said disarmingly.

"Get out of here." The man said harshly and pointed a gun at Nate.

"Hey, hey now I just wanted directions man…no need for any of that." Nate said looking alarmed.

Eliot watched Nate as he approached the two and then him and Parker took the distraction and made it over the fence without the two guards seeing them then moved swiftly to the building. They edged along the wall keeping their eyes open for any other resistance.

"Eliot…" Parker said softly pointing upwards to a window that was slightly open above them.

Eliot nodded and put his hands together to give her a boost. Parker easily made it to the window and a few minutes later she dropped a rope down which Eliot scrambled up. Just as he was through and into the warehouse they both heard a gunshot and froze. Something was obviously happening at the gate and Nate was taking fire.

"Let's find Sophie." Eliot gritted through his teeth as he heard more shots being fired. He had promised Nate and besides trying to get to the man was not going to help him now, they had to find Sophie, or all of this was for nothing. He just hoped there was a Sophie to find and that she was alive and well.

"Ok well I don't think she is down there she is up here, so we go door to door." Parker said, she had noted that there were no guards at this upper level of the warehouse, that meant in her mind they were lined up downstairs to stop Nate from coming up here. Eliot agreed and they started moving from room to room with Parker easily picking each lock and Eliot making a quick entry ready for any resistance.

"Ok well last one." Eliot said as the arrived at the last door and Parker bent down to pick the lock. Eliot rushed in and then stopped dead in his tracks staring at Sophie as she sat on the bed looking back at him.

"Eliot." Sophie gasped out, she had not expected him to be there and then she saw Parker.

"How…"

"No time for that Sophie." Parker said as she worked on the chains that held Sophie to the bed. "We got to go."

Sophie nodded and followed them out of the room after Parker had released her. She heard rapid gunfire and wondered who it was firing at who because no shots came their way. They made their way as quickly as possible back to the window the two had come in at and then Parker went down before Eliot helped Sophie over out the window and watched herself lower herself down.

"Get to Hardison." Eliot told Parker then turned back to go and help Nate.

"Parker…"

"No time Sophie common." She said pulling the woman along with her.

Nate watched the man carefully as he made a show of being very disturbed by the production of a gun. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Eliot and Parker were on the move and knew he had to start doing his thing but not too soon. One of the men opened the gate and took a step toward Nate. Nate allowed him to come still putting on his show. The man grabbed him and shoved him away from the gate before pulling out his gun too. Nate cast his eyes to where he knew Parker and Eliot had entered and saw Eliot go through the window. He closed his eyes his hand resting on the gun he carried with him and then swung around firing twice quickly dropping both men instantly. Then he moved towards the building taking cover behind one of the large containers in the yard area as a barrage of gunfire came his way. He was not wanting to make it into the warehouse, he trusted Eliot and Parker to get Sophie, he just needed to keep these men busy. Stepping out he fired at nothing which brought another barrage of fire. Nate took a deep breath and then fired again but his time as he stepped out he was fired at and he felt a bullet hit him so he pulled back behind the container again and looked down at the red bloom on his shirt. He closed his eyes and then stepped out again firing as he did and felt another burn as he took another hit, this time in his shoulder. He did not know what was happening inside the warehouse but hoped that he was giving Eliot and Parker and clear run at Sophie.

Nate took a deep breath and then stepped out again and immediately he was met with gunfire and moved back behind the crate avoiding the bullets that were heading his way. He did not think he could carry on for much longer, his shirt was completely soaked in blood and he could feel himself loosing energy. Pulling on his last reserves he stepped out again and fired drawing more fire and feeling another hot burn as a bullet grazed his side before he stepped back behind the container and leaned against it trying to catch his breath. He was about to step out again when he heard a scuffle and some random gunfire. He smiled to himself as he slid down against the container. It could only be Eliot he thought and if it were him then Sophie was out and safe. He dropped his gun and put his head back against the container and closed his eyes.

"Nate…Nate…" Eliot called out after taking down the last of the men facing off against the Mastermind.

"Here." Nate croaked out and seconds later Eliot appeared sinking down in front of Nate.

"Nate…"

"Sophie?" Nate asked looked at his Hitter through slit eyes.

"She's out and safe." Eliot said as he surveyed the man. He had a gut shot as well as a shoulder wound but could not see any other damage. "We got to go."

Nate nodded then took Eliot's hand as the man pulled him to his feet. Then Eliot tucked his shoulder under Nate's arm and walked him toward the van that had just pulled up. Sophie jumped out of the van and ran towards them. She took up a position beside the injured man and helped Eliot to get him to the van and inside.

"Hospital Hardison now." Eliot said as he laid Nate down and opened his shirt revealing the gunshot wound in his stomach as well as the wound on his side and shoulder.

"Sophie…" Nate said weakly having only eyes for the woman who sat beside him.

"Oh Nate…" She said leaning in and giving him a kiss. "I love you." She said softly.

"Love you too Soph…" He said softly then his head lolled to one side as he lost consciousness.

"Eliot?" Sophie asked looking up at the Hitter.

"It's bad Sophie, gut shots…well they are never good." He said as he held his shirt to Nate's wound trying to stem the flow of blood.

It did not take Hardison long to get them to a hospital and Nate was immediately taken into the emergency rooms.

"We going to have some trouble here." Eliot said, it would not be long before the police arrived, and they had no cover. "Hardison…"

The Hacker looked at him and shook his head. There was nothing he could do right then he did not have his equipment and he had no way of giving them any cover. He looked at Parker and he could see the woman was not going to go anywhere and nor where the others even if they were arrested, not until they knew what was going on with Nate.

"Call Sterling." Sophie said softly to Eliot. Eliot nodded then stepped away from them to make the call. He did not like the man and he did not trust the man, but he was their only hope at this point, he was not sure he would help but to his surprise he immediately agreed to help without asking too many questions.

By the time the police had arrived they had cover in place and Sterling spoke on the phone to the DCI who was standing with them. He nodded a few times and then told Eliot that he hoped his friend made it and that he should call if they required any assistance. Eliot thanked him and then turned back to the group who all sat together waiting for word on Nate.

"Sophie what happened?" Eliot asked as Hardison and Parker returned with coffee for all of them the second hour of their vigil.

"I don't exactly know Eliot. I was in the hospital and I could hear Nate, could hear him saying he was sorry and then nothing until I woke up on that bed you found me on. I was held there now for…"

"It's been just over a year Sophie." Parker said looking at her.

"Yes, well time did not mean much. A man came to talk to me every now and then telling me about his search for Nate and then everything Nate was doing to try to find me and then…well you arrived and here we are."

"He didn't hurt you."

"No, I was treated very well." Sophie said. "This was about Nate not me. I don't exactly know what or why. Who was the man?"

"We know about as much as you Sophie." Eliot said softly and then explained everything that had happened during the last year or so to her. Nate leaving then Nate coming back to rescue them and everything that had happened from there on.

"Oh my God." Sophie said after listening to it all. "He said he wanted Nate to do things he would never do, he wanted to break Nate, to break the man he was, that was his aim and Nate…"

"Yeah Sophie he did do some heavy shit." Eliot said softly thinking of what the man had done since he had returned and trying to imagine what he might have done before that.

"It doesn't matter what he did, we will get him through it, we will help him deal with it." Parker said. "With you back Sophie we can do it."

Sophie looked at the woman and smiled. She was so happy to have her family back, to be free, to be safe, but at the same time she was petrified for Nate, not just because he was in a hospital with serious bullet wounds but also because she was not sure how he was going to deal with the fallout from everything that had happened over the last year.

"Ford Family." A doctor called as he walked into the waiting room.

"Yes, I am Sophie Ford, Nate is my husband."

"Mrs Ford, your husband had serious injuries and lost a lot of blood. He has made it through surgery and is being transferred to ICU. He is currently in critical condition but is stable."

"Can we see him?" Sophie asked the doctor her eyes begging him for permission to see the man.

"Only for a few minutes." The doctor said seeing the desperation in the woman's eyes.

"Thank you."

"My nurse will fetch you once he is out of recovery." The doctor said as she shook his hand and thanked him again.

The doctor smiled at her then turned and left. Sophie watched him walk away and then sank back into the chair putting her head in her hands.

"Hey Sophie…he's alive and he is a fighter, he will pull through and then we will deal with what comes next." He said softly as he sank down before her.

Sophie moved her hands and looked at the Hitter. This had been a hard year, trapped in a room not knowing what was going on with Nate except what the man had told her and not knowing what was happening with them, with her family. She realised it was hard on them too with Nate having left them and thinking she was dead. The man had hurt them all during this last year, but he had hurt Nate the most she thought. The man had thought her dead, spent six months mourning her and then to be told that she was alive, well not really told but toyed with and then to do the things he had done, had been almost been made to do by the man, and now he lay in a hospital and he could die. It was almost all too much for her, but she sat up and nodded at Eliot. She would hold it together for Nate, and then they would all deal with the fallout once Nate was through this.

A nurse came and fetched them an hour later and led them to the ICU unit that Nate was in. Sophie walked into the unit and looked at Nate who lay surrounded by machines which made a myriad of noises. Walking up to the bed she looked down at Nate. He was bare from the chest up exposing the bandages that covered the incisions made during the operation and she could also see older scars, scars obtained over the last year. She held back a sob as she took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Nate you did it, you found me, you saved me, now I need you to come through this too. Don't you dare leave me now Nate, not after all of this. I love you my darling, we all love you and we are all here."

"I'm sorry Mrs Ford you will have to leave now." The nurse said after only a few minutes. Sophie looked up at her and nodded.

"I love you Nate, please my darling don't leave me now, don't leave us, we need you." She said as she squeezed his hand again before leaving the room.

"How is he?" Parker asked as Sophie stepped out of the room.

"He is alive Parker. He is alive and fighting." She said softly pulling the woman into her arms. "He will make it, he will." She said feeling Parker squeeze her tightly.