I do not own Leverage or White Collar.

Eliot POV

After I left set the gas line to explode (old talents put to good use), I exited the front door. The driver was waiting against the car and seemed surprised to see me.

"Is it done? I expected to hear a gunshot," he asked, looking very suspicious of me as if realizing I may not be who he was thought I was for the first time.

I replied as I got into the car. He followed my lead but still looked untrusting, "I rigged the gasoline to explode. It's much less suspicious than a gunshot. It should happen in about 10 seconds so we might want to move a little away if we do not want to get caught up in the gawkers that are sure to come out."

He started the car and slowly moved down the street. As we reached a few houses down, the house went boom and erupted into fire. The driver seemed impressed, expecting no one to survive. He was right she would have died if she had been in the building at all.

He dropped me off at a pre-designated point and I walked a few blocks away, having left the gun in the briefcase. I pulled a taxi number out of my pocket by random and called one. They picked me up and took me to the hotel I was supposed to meet Sara Ellis at. Within a few hours, my whole team would be here and we could get the con rolling in order to give Sara her life back. If needed we could keep her dead and give her new papers but I wanted that to be the last resort.

I had the taxi stop at a shop real quick to pick up a few items of clothing for me and Sara that would last until the others arrived. I also picked up some takeout from the place next store so we could have something to eat. I had been to this place before and trusted that the food would be good. I had the driver dropped me off two blocks from my hotel, conveniently right in front of a different hotel. I made my way toward the hotel as quickly as possible, not wanting to waste any more time but also I did not want to draw any suspicion. I was glad that I had Hardison reserve the rooms as he knew how to be discreet when needed, rather than use one of the rooms I had already booked, thus creating an even better false trail.

I collected the keys to my room that connected to the room that Sara Ellis would be put up in. I reached the room and entered my room. I put down my stuff and the first thing I did was to get into the shower. I washed off all the grime from traveling and then pulled on the new clothes. I almost felt like a different person in my jeans and flannel shirt. My hair was tied back with a bandana while it dried, keeping it out of my face as a bonus.

I knocked on the connecting door. Sara Ellis seemed to hesitate before opening the door, wearing just a robe as if she had the same idea as me to shower. I held up the food and the bag of clean clothes and she let me in. I handed her the bag of clothes and she immediately went into the bathroom to change. I put some of the food I bought on the table and left the rest in the bag. It was for her to eat whenever she wanted. I had something for me stashed away in my room and this would be her stash so she did not have to depend on room service.

She joined me several minutes later in sweats and a t-shirt, which was one of the options in the bag (I had gotten several options as I did not know what she liked to wear). She seemed to need the comfort as she looked tired already and we still had a long way to go. We silently ate our subs and chips along with a bottle of soda (not orange thankfully), both of us lost in our own thoughts. I was trying to figure out who wanted her dead and if they would truly believe that she was dead or if I needed to be on watch constantly in order to keep her safe.

I was thinking about asking her a question, but she beat me to the chase, "Why did you allow me to live? You could have killed me and moved on with your life," She seemed curious, but not really suspicious of me as if saving a person's life stopped all those thoughts before they formed fully.

I took a swing of my soda, wishing that it was beer but also knowing I needed to keep a clear head in case we were attacked. "I may have done some bad things in the past but I am trying to turn over a new leaf. I am not an assassin and never have been. I was truly in the wrong place at the right time," I told her honestly.

She was silent for a few moments and then said, "Do you know who is after me?"

I thought for a second then replied, "You probably have a better idea than I do. I have not been to New York a lot lately as I was busy in Boston. What sort of case have you been working on lately?"

She seemed to debate how much to tell me and then started to speak slowly, gaining confidence as she spoke, "We are after Japanese Bara Bonds, which was reported to be in the possession of Halbridge. This is in conjunction with the white-collar division of the FBI, who had a sting for last night. There CI was supposed to take the place of a Mr. Black, who was detained in Canada. He is suspected to be a courier," she told me. My mind spun as she spoke.

I quickly put my thoughts into words, "I came in on a flight from Canada, and was detained by customs, but was released in time to catch the flight. I had left the airport and decided to go for a run in the area around the airport, stopping by a construction site and picked up by a man and told to kill you. I think I took the place of the other Mr. Black. He is not a courier but an assassin," I could see the cogs turning as I spoke to her and she reached the conclusion at the same time as me.

Before we could continue the conversation any further, there was a knock on the door. I singled her to be quiet and slowly approached the door. I looked through the peephole and was relieved to see it people that I knew. It was the rest of the crew: Parker, Hardison, Nate, and Sophie. As Sara Ellis was an insurance investigator, I was curious about how meeting Nate would go as they moved in a similar sphere at one point. I guess I would find out when I opened the door. I slowly opened the door and ushered them all in, signaling to Sara that it was safe in the meantime.

As soon as they were all settled in the room, I realized that Nate and Sara seemed to be staring at each other like they were trying to figure out how they knew each other. I decided to sit down and wait for the missiles to go off or for a happy reunion to occur. Either way, things were never that simple with Nate. I was glad the spotlight was off me for now and on him for a short time until reality crept back in and we would have to get back to work. I sighed and waited to see who would speak first.

AN1: So, I managed to get another chapter out in a reasonable time. I hope to continue the trend but you never know. I hope the chapter was enjoyable. The next chapter will include interaction between the leverage crew and Sara Ellis and if there is space, we will swing back to the investigation. At some point, Hardison and Parker will dust off their FBI aliases. I appreciate any comments and reviews were given. Thanks ~jenn008

AN2: Minor edits were done. A new chapter should be out today at some point.