Third Person POV
What happens when you take four thieves and put them in D.C? They steal something, of course. Eliot, Kaira, Parker, and Hardison were breaking into Castleman's security vault.
First, Hardison hacked the elevator to head to the vault and jammed the two security guard's comms. The elevator opened up, revealing Hardison and Kaira on his tablet, not looking at the guards. Hardison was wearing jeans, a green jacket, and a scarf, and his normal shoes, and he had a messenger bag. Kaira was wearing a black Jack Daniels shirt with a white long sleeve underneath, blue jeans, and a charcoal grey hoodie, and combat boots. Her hair was down, and was up to her shoulders, where it used to be to her shoulder blades.
"Sup, Eliot?" Hardison said.
"Who?" One of the guards questioned.
"The guy about to beat you up." Kaira looked at the guards, a bit of sass in her voice.
Then Eliot stood up behind them. Eliot had on a red t-shirt, black leather jacket, and jeans and boots. His hair was cut shorter, thanks to Kaira. Kaira smiled. Eliot roundhouse kicked one guard into the wall, then blocked the punch of the other guard, blocking the gun, shoving him against the wall, then punching his chest, then knocking him out with an elbow to the jaw.
"Nice job, babe." Kaira smirked at Eliot, who gave a smirl back.
"Camera's good?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"Good for two minutes." Hardison showed Eliot and Kaira the tablet, showing the camera feed was clean.
"Nice." Kaira commented.
Parker dropped down from the ceiling. She was wearing black leggings, a black top with a strap on the front, and a leather jacket, her blonde hair down, bangs long, and boots.
"Two minutes for a Kerensky 217 with motion sensors? Thanks." Parker said, walking to the trio.
Hardison hacked the vault door and got it unlocked, a smirk on his face. The wheel started spinning. Hardison opened the vault door. He smirked as he looked back at Parker.
"Babe, I got the motion sensors." Hardison said.
Then the lasers revealed themselves. "Lasers, on the other hand…" Hardison said.
Parker walked up to the door.
"Look, you got a minute 40." Hardison reminded Parker.
She turned around and took off her jacket.
"Cool." Parker said, now in front of Hardison.
"Kiss for luck?" Hardison asked Parker.
"Who needs luck?" Parker asked flirtatiously.
She went into a backbend, navigating her way across the laser grid. Let's just say Hardison was enjoying what he was looking at, giving the flirty smile on his face. Parker made her way to the end of the grid.
"I never get tired of that." Hardison said.
He extended his arm back so him and Eliot could do their handshake, then Kaira gave Hardison a fistbump. Parker grabbed her butane torch from her back and heated up the lock on the security box.
After getting the merchandise and covering their tracks, they all walked out. They were walking down the sidewalk at the park. Eliot had the box they got from the security box in his hands. Hardison was on the phone with their client.
"Well, Prime Minister Entabe is about to find out he's not as good at hiding his assets as he once thought. Yeah. No, you should be able to buy four n-" Hardison said as they stopped at a garbage can, where Eliot opened the box and revealed a box of diamonds.
Parker gasped, liking the diamonds. "Oh! Bup-bup." Parker got Hardison's attention.
"... Eighteen new schools." Hardison said.
Eliot snapped his fingers to get Hardison to end the call as him and Kaira looked at documents they found.
"Okay, take care, Sister Agnes." Hardison ended the call.
Eliot dumped the box as Hardison, Parker, and Kaira kept walking.
"They're just so shiny. Couldn't I have just kept one?" Parker complained to Hardison.
Eliot joined up with them, grabbing Kaira's hand to hold.
"Road to redemption, Parker. Just think how good it's gonna feel when you get that Christmas card from those orphans. Hell, we may even get Eliot to smile." Hardison said, pointing back to Eliot, causing him and Parker to chuckle.
"Oh, come on, Hardison, you know Eliot only smiles around me." Kaira teased a bit, chuckling.
Eliot's phone then started ringing. The group stopped. Eliot recognized the number.
"Are you cool, man?" Hardison asked Eliot, concerned.
"Babe, what is it?" Kaira asked Eliot, grabbing his shoulder.
Eliot walked ahead a bit and answered the phone, Kaira right beside him. He put the phone up to his ear.
"How'd you get this number, Riley?" Eliot asked the guy on the other side of the line.
"Hitters like you two comes back to D.C, and… buzz-buzz. Hell, three foreign Presidents choppered out of the city when they heard you were around." Riley said.
"What do you want?" Eliot asked.
"I got a job for you. Right here in town, got to be this morning." Riley revealed.
"No, we don't do that anymore." Eliot looked at Kaira.
A worried expression appeared on her face.
"The rumors are true? Damn it. Oh! That's like Picasso throwing away his paintbrush. Later, then." Riley said, hanging up.
Eliot lowered the phone, looking at the ground. Kaira still held his shoulder. Kaira may not have gotten the conversation, but she knew what was asked of Eliot.
"That's that thing-thing you and Kai don't do anymore." Parker realized.
Eliot put the phone in his pocket.
"No, we don't." Eliot looked at Kaira.
"So we keep walking." Hardison said, walking with Parker.
But Eliot and Kaira couldn't walk away. Not when it was obvious someone was about to get hurt. Hardison and Parker stopped and looked back.
"Just cause we're not doing it, doesn't mean it's not getting done." Kaira told Parker and Hardison, walking up to them with Eliot.
They stood in a circle.
"So you're saying that somebody, somewhere…" Hardison trailed off as he mimed shooting.
The group left to go to where Riley was.
Just as Riley's bodyguard was leaving, Eliot and Kaira walked in, pissed-off expressions on their faces. Riley got worried, seeing the duo. Eliot and Kaira stood at the doorframe, their body language saying they weren't leaving willingly.
"A lot of guys, this is the last thing they ever see. Isn't mine, is it?" Riley asked.
"I already told you I ain't in the game anymore." Eliot said, walking up a bit, Kaira following.
"And I ain't either, but we can't let this go down, so we're gonna need the file." Kaira threatened Riley.
"Why'd you quit, anyway?" Riley asked the duo, hitting his security button.
"Started running with some different people… like a hacker…" Eliot said as Riley realized his button wasn't working.
Hardison came around the corner, on his tablet, having hacked the button. Hardison gave a nod and Riley pulled out a gun and starting firing, but it just clicked.
"And a thief." Kaira added.
Parker knocked on Riley's head, revealing the bullets and magazine from the gun.
"Click." Parker taunted.
"And married a jack of trades." Eliot looked at Kaira.
She looked back, hiding a smile. She then turned to Riley, getting angry. She grabbed the collar of Riley's nice shirt and pulled hard, giving a threatening glare as Eliot got up to the desk. Hardison and Parker surrounded the couple.
"Now, I'm gonna need that file. You said this morning, so I know you got the intel on you. Now." Eliot growled.
Riley about pissed himself, grabbing the file from his desk. Kaira let go and grabbed it from his hand.
"Good night, asshole." Kaira cocked her head as Parker tased him in the neck.
The group circled up again. Kaira held out the file and looked through it. Hardison grabbed the file from Kaira.
"They got full surveillance on her, everyday timeline. She gets off her train from work in 15 minutes." Hardison pointed out.
The group all ran out.
8:57 A.M
The group arrived at Greer Park. There was a crowd of people all around them, getting to the train station.
"You want to take somebody out in an open space like this, you don't do it up close. Target can see you, they can evade. Your exit path is blocked by screaming witnesses." Eliot pointed out.
"Drive by won't work either, cause handguns aren't reliable over the street distance." Kaira pointed out.
Her and Eliot both had the same chilling realization.
"Sniper." Eliot and Kaira both said.
"Open roof, clear line of sight to the subway exit. Behind me." Eliot said.
Parker and Hardison wanted to turn, but Kaira stopped them, grabbing their arms.
"Don't look!" Kaira exclaimed.
Eliot looked at his watch, realizing the time was close.
"I'm gonna keep her alive. You guys find a way to get her out of here." Eliot said.
"With what?" Hardison asked.
"I-" Eliot scoffed as he started walking away.
"You stole a Michelangelo with tinfoil and chewing gum. Figure it out!" Eliot exclaimed as he started running.
Parker found a light green scooter to use, and Hardison bought some colored spray. Kaira and Eliot distracted the woman, Teresa, by standing in front of her, asking for directions to the hotel. And then Eliot shook her hand and apologized for what they had to do next. Eliot picked her up and they hid behind a cart as the sniper open fired.
Civilians were screaming, running in all directions. Hardison made a smoke bomb to provide Eliot and Kaira cover to get the woman out.
"Who are you guys?" She asked the hitter couple.
"Right now, we're the good guys." Eliot told her.
"We're trying to keep you alive." Kaira added.
Once the smoke built up, the gunfire stopped. Parker then pulled up on the scooter.
"Go! Get on that! Get on that! Go! Go!" Eliot ordered Teresa.
She got on the scooter and Parker drove them off. Eliot and Kaira then got up and ran, climbing up the stairs to the building. They ran into the sniper. He threw a bag of golf clubs, which no doubt in the couple's minds contained his sniper rifle, at the couple. The sniper tried to run, but Kaira tripped him as Eliot grabbed a golf club and swung it at the sniper's groin, sending him to the wall. Kaira grabbed the club and hit the guys back, sending him down the stairs.
Back at the park, Parker checked to see if Teresa was okay, sitting on the edge of a fountain while the police roped off the scene. Parker asked if Teresa was okay. Teresa said she was okay, and thanked Parker. Hardison told them they had to go.
"Hang on." Eliot said, coming back with Kaira.
"Um, no, cops, bad. Thieves, go." Parker pointed out.
"Teresa, what do you do for a living?" Kaira asked Teresa.
"I'm an administrator." Teresa told the group.
"For what?" Eliot asked, getting on his phone.
"The 911 Emergency system for the city of Washington D.C. I run it." Teresa explained.
Eliot got on the phone.
"This wasn't just a hit. This is terrorism." Eliot said.
The stakes had risen, and the group knew it.
"So, who you calling?" Hardison asked Eliot.
"Kaira and I got a buddy in the business." Eliot stepped back and faced away from the rest of the group.
Eliot was calling Colonel Vance, his buddy in the business.
"Hey." Eliot answered the phone.
"Eliot Spencer. Ain't that a kick in the head?" Vance said on the other line, realizing who it was calling him.
A bit later, they headed back to the scene.
"Too many cops." Parker pointed out.
"So, who is this Vance guy, anyway?" Hardison asked.
"Too many cops." Parker repeated.
"We were in the service together. We got our hands dirty." Eliot explained.
"After a while, Vance got put in a suit. He asked me and Eliot to continue working for our country. We did for a bit. He's part of the reason I met Eliot." Kaira continued.
"What kind of work?" Hardison asked, the group in a circle.
"I just told you. We got our hands dirty. We go way back. We hand this off, we're on the first flight out of D.C." Eliot said.
Eliot and Kaira walked up to Vance.
"Colonel." Eliot said.
"Somebody paid good money to kill D.C's Emergency Services Administrator." Kaira explained.
Parker and Hardison walked up to the couple.
"Kaira and I dropped the gunman. Uniforms got him… and the file..." Eliot said, realizing something was off.
The cops began forming a large wall around the thieves. The thieves backed up into one another, front-facing the wall.
"So…" Eliot muttered before Kaira gave him a light tap to stay quiet.
"Eliot Spencer, Kaira Spencer, you're under arrest." Vance sad.
Then all the cops cocked their guns at the thieves.
"Son of a bitch." Kaira muttered under her breath.
Parker sighed.
"Told ya. Too many cops." Parker said.
They were all escorted in handcuffs to the transport truck.
"You got some charges?" Eliot asked Vance.
"Charges? Conspiracy to commit murder - multiple counts - assault, battery, racketeering, kidnapping." Vance told Eliot as they got in the truck.
Vance told his guys to be upfront. Parker was sitting beside Hardison on one side with Vance, Eliot and Kaira on the other, staring at Vance.
"This is a violation of my constitutional rights." Hardison told Vance.
"You're Alec Hardison. You cracked the Pentagon servers when you were 12. NSA has a file on you a mile long." Vance looked at Hardison.
"Do they? What do they say about me? I hope they gave me a cool nickname." Hardison questioned, cocky.
"Parker here - no file on you, which is…" Vance said.
Parker was snoring lightly. Kaira tried not to laugh.
"Is she asleep?" Vance asked, confused.
"She bores easily." Eliot said.
"What do you got on us?" Eliot asked.
Kaira caught on.
"You said multiple counts. The 911 administrator wasn't the only hit today." Kaira realized.
"The head of the largest hospital in Washington D.C, was killed in a suspicious car wreck. The local FEMA director was knifed to death in a mugging." Vance explained.
"All today?" Eliot questioned.
"That's… coincidence." Hardison said, worried.
"No, it's what you do when you want to cripple the infrastructure of a city the day of a terrorist attack. Somebody's gonna hit D.C with something big… today." Eliot realized.
"Clock is ticking. It's gonna take me two days just to schedule a meeting between FBI, Homeland Security, and everybody else who owns a piece of this." Vance pointed out.
"Why can't you put together one of your dance teams?" Kaira asked, running out of patience.
"As of now, my teams are illegal. However, if certain… known felons somehow resolve the situation, I'm pretty sure I could get all the charges dropped against them." Vance said.
"I stopped working for you a long time ago, Vance." Eliot said.
"And I did too." Kaira added.
"You took an oath." Vance reminded the hitter duo.
"Y-you're talking about stopping a terrorist attack in an afternoon. We'd need all your intel." Hardison said.
"That truck back at the crime scene - it's an NSA mobile response intelligence unit." Vance explained.
"With the Schneier Cryptography system and the J-Dam satellite uplink?" Hardison asked excitedly, quickly realizing he said too much.
"That… I know nothing about, cause that would be treason and wrong. Are you for real?" Hardison questioned Vance.
Vance moved to sit beside Eliot.
"So, you grab the truck - hell… your girlfriend and wife's already out of their cuffs." Vance said.
Parker and Kaira smirked as they held up the cuffs. Parker tossed hers to Vance first, then Kaira did.
"Make it look good." Vance told Eliot.
Eliot adjusted himself and punched Vance. Vance recovered quickly. Kaira all but got on Eliot's lap and went next, punching Vance. Then Vance said about Eliot's age, so Kaira stood up and Eliot punched him one last time, knocking him out.
"Three tries? Damn." Hardison commented.
"He didn't always wear a suit." Eliot said.
He got up and grabbed Vance's badge.
"Parker, get the door." Eliot said.
While Parker was getting the door, Kaira picked Eliot and Hardison's cuffs. They made it out of the truck and went back to the park. They hid behind a building.
"Oh, no. Go back to the scene of the crime crawling with Feds. Good plan. Loving the plan." Hardison complained.
"Oh, come on, Hardison, quit your bitching, we'll be fine." Kaira groaned.
"Just do one of your voices." Eliot told Hardison, putting on a cap as Hardison put on glasses. Kaira put her hair up.
"Buy me a minute to boost it." Parker said, leaving.
Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira walked up to the truck, with Hardison acting like they had to move the truck. Kaira told the guy to go and Eliot flashed the badge. Kaira and Hardison pretended that the data was being erased. Eliot tossed the guy the badge and they got in.
They drove a few blocks away and stopped. Parker got in the back and they had the chance to look at everything. Parker was sitting down at a seat, Eliot and Kaira were standing, and Hardison was walking towards Parker.
"It's got every database - NSA, CIA, FBI. It's got hard backdoors into most commercial systems, live feeds into every security camera on the grid. Man, if this wasn't such a gross violation of our civil liberties, I would be in love right now." Hardison said.
"Where do we start?" Parker asked.
"We start with getting you three on a plane out of here." Eliot said, not wanting to put the three people he cares about the most in any more danger.
"Eliot, don't start that shit with us." Kaira objected, her stance firm.
"You didn't sign up for this. Trust me." Eliot argued.
"And you? You're going to handle this by yourself? Come on, she's a lady, man. She needs the right touch. What you gonna do with your big punch hands - punch the screens? No." Hardison argued.
"We agreed we all change. Better or worse, we change together." Parker reminded Eliot of the vow they'd made.
Kaira stood in front of Eliot, holding his head to get him to look at her.
"Babe, I promised you that I was gonna have your back, forever and always. We promised we would watch each other's backs, forever and always." Kaira reminded Eliot of that vow.
"Kaira-" Eliot tried to object.
"No. We all made vows to each other. We're staying together, forever and always." Kaira argued with Eliot.
Eliot was reluctant, grabbing Kaira's hands. He lowered her hands, but kept a hold of them.
"Forever and always." Eliot whispered, kissing Kaira's hand.
Kaira nodded and moved to the side. Eliot knew there was no stopping his partners. They had a goal, and they were gonna do it, together, like always.
"What do they got on the gunman?" Eliot asked Hardison.
Hardison pulled up the data on the monitors in the truck. He sighed, having pulled up fingerprints being run.
"They're running his prints. It's gonna take hours to narrow down." Hardison explained.
"Look up the Navy Seal database, enlisted from '90 to '95." Eliot told Hardison, still recovering from the moment they had.
Hardison looked back at Eliot.
"It's his watch. Steel-brushed chronometers were standard seal issue, until they switched to the Carbon Black Diver's watch in '95. It's a very distinctive watch. Pull it up." Eliot told Hardison.
Hardison did just that and found the sniper.
"B-I-NGO." Hardison said.
"That's the sniper." Kaira confirmed.
"Charlie Scalzi, dishonorable discharge. His passport's are all over the place. I got his credit cards, his bank statements - government has everything. Man, this is disturbing. I mean, it's hot, but it's disturbing." Hardison said.
"Hardison?" Eliot brought Hardison in line.
"All right. Parking, you always start with the parking - especially now, since the meters take credit cards." Hardison pulled up a map and found where Charlie parked.
The dots were grouped in a close cluster.
"He parked on the same black eight times in a row a couple months ago." Hardison reported.
"What's so special about that block?" Parker asked.
"I don't know. It's got a couple old buildings, some antique shops. Let me run a scan." Hardison said.
He found a news feed about a robbery at one of the shops. Hardison ran the news article, which said that the thieves had a cooler of beer and were waiting for the weekend and made off with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.
"Okay, that's not it." Hardison was ready to move on, but Parker stopped him.
"That's exactly it." Parker said.
"A bunch of burnouts camping?" Hardison questioned.
"Do you know why you bring a cooler full of ice to a robbery? No?" Parker asked, looking at the group.
Kaira smiled a bit.
"I do. Everything we need to know is in that basement." Parker said.
She went to leave but came back.
"I'll drive." Parker said.
She left to get in the driver's seat, grabbing her jacket.
"Hold on." Hardison warned the duo.
"Exactly." Eliot said.
"No, hold on." Hardison reiterated, sitting down.
"Oh, you, - oh, hell, man." Eliot said, trying to find a spot to sit.
"Shit!" Kaira exclaimed as she went to sit.
Eliot and Kaira sat next to each other, hearing the horn honking.
"No seat belts on this." Eliot said.
"Do you got a seatbelt?" Eliot asked.
"No." Kaira said, getting worried.
"No, uh, hold-hold the wall." Hardison suggested.
They drove to the jewelry store.
10:13 AM
They pulled up to the store and went to the basement, getting flashlights out in the process. They got the lights on. Parker and Kaira were ahead, the boys behind.
"This is a waste of time, Parker. There's nothing down here." Eliot said.
Parker and Kaira realized what was off with the wall. They walked up to it, Parker getting out her torch. She turned it on and the paint sizzled. They turned around.
"Bubbles. Fresh paint." Parker explained.
"You bring ice to a robbery to keep the industrial saw blade cool." Kaira explained as Parker put her torch away.
"The beer and the jewels were a distraction." Parker explained.
She grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it to bust a hole into the wall. The group look in, seeing inside was an abandoned lab. They went in and got the flashlights on again. They started looking around.
"Oh, this couldn't get any creepier." Hardison said.
"This stuff looks like it hasn't been touched in ages." Kaira pointed out, seeing the dust that was collected on the items.
"I stand corrected." Hardison said.
Eliot and Kaira found a piece of paper.
"Says "Coldwater Health Sciences Foundation"." Eliot read off the paper.
"The Foundation was a precursor to the CDC." Hardison explained.
He pulled up info on his phone.
"Was, uh, privately funded government disease research shut down in 1934." Hardison explained.
"Ah, hell, you kidding me? We're in a forgotten pre-CDC lab?" Kaira questioned, groaning.
"How do you lose track of a whole laboratory?" Parker asked, searching through cabinets.
"There's over 200 tons of Uranium missing from the United States Nuclear Storage." Eliot pointed out, starting to search around again.
"The Air Force lost a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Georgia. Thing's still swimming in the water." Hardison said.
"Countries are big, Park. A lot of secrets can slip through the cracks with enough paperwork." Kaira said, looking at some bottles.
"You should see this." Parker said, looking at an open box as Eliot looked at a memo.
"The case is vacuum-sealed." Eliot reported.
"Do not tell me what's inside." Hardison said.
"Says… influenza. 1918." Eliot pointed out.
"Get out. Now! Get out! Now! Go!" Hardison ordered the group, getting them to run.
They ran like hell out to the truck, getting behind it.
"The Spanish Flu killed 50 million people during World War 1, and now somebody's got it." Hardison explained, scared, trying to get in the van.
"Look, we can do this." Parker said.
"Parks right, Hardison. Hey!" Kaira grabbed Hardison and had him look at her.
"We work this like any other job." Kaira told Hardison.
"This isn't just any other job, Kai!" Hardison argued.
"All right. Stay focused." Eliot tried to reason with Hardison.
"I am focused!" Hardison snapped at Eliot.
"That bug in there killed 50 million people! 50! And that was when the population was lower." Hardison explained.
"Now?" Parker asked.
"Now? 150 million people. 150 million dead. Hey, we're thieves, man. And we're good at what we do, but this is way, way out of our league. And you expect us to go catch some psycho with a city killer? A country killer?" Hardison argued, showing his fear.
"You scared?" Eliot asked Hardison, calm.
Kaira was beside Eliot, also surprisingly calm.
"You're damn right." Hardison said, heading in the truck.
Eliot grabbed his wrist, looking Hardison in the eye.
"I'm not. I got the best thief, the best jack of trades, and the smartest guy I know chasing this guy." Eliot told Hardison.
Hardison turned his head to look at Kaira and Parker, but Eliot grabbed the back of Hardison's neck, once again looking him in the eyes.
"Hey, listen to me. You're the smartest guy I've ever known, Hardison. I need that brain to get me to him. Cause you know if I lay my hands on him, it's done. Get me to him." Eliot told Hardison, a serious look on his face.
Eliot let go. Kaira then looked at Hardison.
"He's right, Hardison. You're the smartest person I know. And we're damn good at what we do. Yeah, this is out of our league, but we've done out of our league before. We took over a damn country! And we were able to do it cause of you. We can do this. And a little fear is good, Hardison. Keeps you focused, gives you the boost you need. I know you got this, Hardison. Now, I need you to believe it." Kaira stared right at Hardison, showing him she was honest.
Cause it was true. Hardison is the smartest guy Kaira knew. And if anyone could figure this out, it was Hardison. Hardison thought about what his partners said. And yeah, he was terrified. Someone out there had a virus. And right now, him and his partners were the only ones able to stop it. But Eliot and Kaira's words went through his head. And Hardison was a little less scared.
"He has to weaponize it." Hardison explained.
"Good. That's a good start." Eliot told Hardison.
"We find the lab." Parker said.
"We find the virus." Kaira added, feeling more hopeful.
"He doesn't need a lab. He needs pigs." Hardison explained.
The group got back in the truck and Hardison was at the laptop, his jacket off, looking up information. Eliot and Kaira were sitting across the table.
"Okay, Spanish Flu is H1N1, just like the avian flu virus outbreaks a few years ago, which started on large industrial farms in China, where people worked in close proximity to chickens and pigs. The disease, it traveled through the animals first, and then finally jumped to humans." Hardison explained the virus.
"The terrorist would have to have total access to a pig farm." Eliot pointed out.
"That's time and manpower, probably bought or is renting out the farm." Kaira added.
"Uh, call up the NSA satellites." Hardison told the truck.
"Calling up NSA satellite." A robotic female voice came over the speakers.
"Thank you, creepy spy truck." Hardison said.
He got up and looked at the map that was pulled up on the screen.
"Now." Hardison found the farm, snapping his fingers.
"This-this farm is an hour outside of the city. According to records, the owner shut this down three weeks ago. But this was two days ago." Hardison pointed out, showing the feed of a truck leaving the farm.
"It doesn't look too shut down to me." Hardison added.
Eliot got on the phone again, calling Vance.
"Vance." Eliot answered the phone.
"Had to use my badge to jack that truck, huh?" Vance questioned Eliot.
"Listen, I'm sending you an address, okay? It seems like your bad guy found some old disease research. He's making it hot." Eliot told Vance.
"Our bad guy has a name. "Ahmed" just dropped off a manifesto here at Washington Union. That letter is serious crazy. What you're telling me doesn't make me feel any better." Vance told Eliot.
"Well, we got a lead on what may be a weapons lab." Eliot said.
"Well, I got to shake a tail. Call me when it stops being maybe." Vance ended the call.
"So… field trip to a terrorist lair. Oh, joy." Hardison said sarcastically.
"Come on, Hardy. You got us to keep you company." Kaira sassed back, patting Hardison on the shoulder.
"Yep. Parker?" Eliot called out, getting the address to Parker.
And they were off again.
11:27 AM
The group arrived at the farm. They all got out.
"Look for any remnants of a lab." Hardison said as they ran a bit.
The group looked around the driveway, looking for clues.
"Guys, over here." Hardison said, something catching his eye.
"Over here!" Hardison repeated as he ran to the barn.
There was a wooden table, and on it was yellow medical tubing with a stopper and a beaker. Hardison looked at it, and Parker and Kaira went ahead to check the rest of the barn out. Eliot told Hardison he was gonna secure the area to make sure they were alone.
Parker and Kaira walked past a tractor, and what they saw caused Kaira to gasp. Parker called out to Hardison as Kaira and Parker held each others arms. Hardison walked over to the girls. Laying against hay bales was a farmer, long dead, the insects buzzing around him. Hardison put his hand on Parkers back to calm her.
"Did the flu-" Parker was about to ask.
"Could have just killed him to keep him quiet. No proof they weaponized the bug." Hardison assured Parker and Kaira. Parker covered her nose, sighing. Eliot came back in the barn with worse news.
"Guys." Eliot called out.
They met outside the barn and looked at the pigpen.
"Oh, god." Kaira muttered, grabbing Eliot's arm.
"Ooh." Parker muttered.
"Okay. That's the proof." Hardison said.
Inside the long pigpen were hundreds of dead pigs.
"The bug is hot." Eliot realized.
"Yeah." Hardison confirmed.
"Not like every other job." Parker corrected herself.
The group called Vance, now that they had their proof.
12:32 PM
Vance came and the group showed him the proof. Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira walked him back to his car.
"Whew! Well, that ain't a maybe. Why'd they kill the guy?" Vance asked.
"Patient zero. Once they got it to work on pigs, they'd need a human host for the final stage." Hardison explained as Parker joined them.
"And they needed him to stay quiet, and dead men tell no tales." Kaira added.
"Found these papers inside. They're a lease agreement." Parker handed Vance the papers she found "Well, it'll be a shell company." Vance assumed.
"Five actually. But they spat out another lease. It's a trailer on some undeveloped land." Hardison explained, giving Vance a flash drive.
"We'll meet you there." Eliot told Vance.
"Nope. There's a time for sneaking around, my brother, and a time for droppin' an attack chopper full of pissed-off 19-year-olds in full body armor on somebody, and we have reached that appointed hour." Vance said, getting him his car.
Vance got on his Bluetooth and said he had a class four biohazard.
"Burn it. Fire is the only way to kill this thing." Hardison told Vance.
Vance got in his car and asked for a burn unit and tactical on the line.
"Leave the truck somewhere we can find it. Your passports will be cleared by the time you reach Dullies. Call you when it's done." Vance told the group.
He drove off.
The team went back to the truck. Parker was sitting down, Hardison was standing by the monitor, Eliot and Kaira were leaning against the wall. The team knew they weren't happy.
"We won. We should be happy." Hardison said.
"Yeah." Eliot said.
"So, why aren't we?" Parker asked.
"The biggest hospital." Eliot muttered.
"Hospital?" Hardison questioned.
"Look at our victims. 911 Administrator who's fine, you got emergency services, fine, but one hospital administrator is gone." Kaira pointed out.
"Eliot said it's what you would do to drive a city crazy the day of an attack." Hardison remembered.
"That's the right way to do it. You hit all the hospitals." Eliot said.
"So why just that one guy?" Kaira asked.
"There's a link between the three." Parker realized.
"There's a link." Eliot confirmed.
Hardison got to work on the laptop.
"Yeah, you got multiple crimes, you always find the connection. Places they go, a person they knew, companies they use, whatever." Kaira explained.
Hardison typed in the names of the three people on the computer and got to work searching.
"Okay, work histories - there's no crossover. Going into their financials. Aha. Hello credit-card statements in Berlin two years ago - same hotel. Going into their passports." Hardison reported.
"Look, they all took the same flight out of Berlin. They took the same flight back after a 4-day stay." Eliot pointed out.
Hardison pulled up the event.
"Symposium on Bio-terror, Berlin University School of Public Health. Sounds like fun." Kaira said sarcastically.
"Led by… another D.C native, Dr. Everett Udall. He laid out a bunch of different scenarios, all terror attacks on D.C." Hardison pulled up Udallls info.
"He's probably dead, too." Parker pointed out.
"Even if he is, I bet his research could help us or at least give us a target. Look at that." Eliot pointed to something on the screen.
"That's a home address. Parker go!" Kaira said.
Parker got up and left.
2:05 PM
They drove to Udall's house. The group parked a bit and walked the rest of the way to the house.
"32, that's-" Hardison found the house.
"Here." Eliot said.
He got the gate open and they walked up to the door. Eliot knocked on the door.
"Dr. Udall?" Eliot called out to him.
Kaira tried knocking.
"Dr. Udall! Please, it's an emergency!" Kaira called out.
"Really not looking forward to finding another body." Hardison said.
Eliot told Parker to pick the lock.
"Focus on the research." Eliot reminded Hardison.
"Hey. If he's got a computer, that's all I need." Hardison told Eliot as Parker got her lockpicks from Hardison.
She picked the lock, staring at Hardison.
"Thank you." Hardison looked at Parker.
Eliot handed Parker her jacket. Hardison went in first, but a click was heard, so Kaira and Eliot grabbed him.
"Hey." Eliot and Kaira stopped Hardison.
Kaira looked down and saw the pressure plate on the floor.
"Eliot? Kai?" Hardison questioned them.
"Did you hear a click?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"Wooden floors don't click, Hardison." Kaira said as she and Eliot knelt down to look at the floor.
"You mean I'm standing on-" Hardison was trying not to panic.
"Yeah, he put a pressure plate underneath the flooring." Eliot explained, trying to stay calm.
"Creative." Hardison said sarcastically.
"Pull him back." Parker ordered.
"It's not that simple, Park. Claymore explosions travel at 4,000 feet per second." Kaira explained, trying to think of a plan to save Hardison.
"And we ain't that fast." Eliot added.
"Oh, you're just full of fun facts, ain't you?" Hardison questioned, the panic rising.
"Whole area in front of the floor could be rigged." Eliot pointed out.
"I got a plan." Parker said.
With Kaira balancing Parker, and Eliot steadying Hardison, Parker used Kaira and Eliot to boost herself up to climbed on Hardison, using his body to swing herself. Parker wrapped her legs around Hardison, and Hardison held her ass.
"Hi." Hardison let out a breath.
Him and Parker chuckled.
"Kiss for luck?" Hardison questioned, trying to smile.
"I don't believe in luck." Parker said.
She bent back, going upside down.
"I can see the connection." Parker said.
"Just pull the wires, Park." Kaira explained.
Parker pulled the wires.
"Got it." Parker reported.
Kaira let out a breath of relief as Parker pushed off of Hardison and Eliot. Everyone was breathing heavily. Hardison all but collapsed onto the door. Kaira held him, making sure Hardison was okay.
"So we're thinking…" Hardison was about to ask.
"Udall is Ahmed." Eliot answered.
"We're all on the same page then." Kaira added, trying to calm herself down.
Eliot got up and went inside.
"You're okay, Hardison." Kaira grabbed Hardison's arm as he grabbed her hand, grounding himself.
Once Hardison calmed down, Kaira helped him up, giving him a nod. They started searching the house. Eliot went through some mail, Kaira and Hardison looked at his computer, and Parker looked around.
"Ahmed." Hardison got into his laptop.
"I got a letter of suspension here from the CDC Bioware Research Department.
"Erratic behavior". That's… great." Eliot reported.
"I got an e-mail from them.
"Your repeated warnings of a biological attack on the U.S have crossed the line into hysteria. Colleagues are claiming harassment." Hardison read off the email.
"Great, so our guy's a pissed-off psycho bio-terrorist. Lovely." Kaira commented.
By this point, Parker joined behind Hardison.
"Okay, I got all his research here. Device design. There's a briefcase with a 2-part detonator." Hardison turned around.
"The virus is mixed in with a gas, and the bomb detonates and it spreads the infection. It's like a germ dirty bomb. It's…" Hardison then had a realization.
The others looked perplexed.
"Wait. All his research is here. Experiments at the pig farm, his research is here." Hardison stood up.
Eliot and Kaira quickly realized what Hardison was getting at, and Eliot got out his phone.
"Oh, hell no." Eliot muttered as he called Vance.
"Shit." Kaira exclaimed, putting her hands on her head, knowing they just put lives at risk.
"So what's the trailer for?" Parker asked.
Eliot put the phone up to his ear. Vance wasn't answering.
"Come on. Come on." Eliot muttered.
Finally, someone answered the phone.
"Hello." A different male voice came over the phone.
"Give me Vance!" Eliot exclaimed.
"Who is this?" The voice asked.
Kaira grabbed the phone.
"I don't know who this is, but we need Vance!" Kaira yelled.
Eliot grabbed the phone back.
"This is a secure line." The voice said.
"Listen to me. Listen to me. This is an emergency. I need to speak with-" Eliot said as the line went dead.
Eliot tried to dial again.
"Vance is leading the team right into an ambush." Kaira explained.
Eliot tried the phone again, stepping away.
"And we sent him there." Eliot muttered.
Eliot angrily hung up the phone. Parker was up against a wall.
"We got to warn him." Eliot said, a desperation in his voice.
Hardison was leaning against a low shelf and turned to face Eliot.
"Is he near his car?" Hardison asked.
"What?" Eliot asked.
"His car! Is he near his car?! Give me the phone. Give me the phone." Hardison told Eliot.
Eliot quickly tossed the phone to Hardison. They waited with held breaths as Hardison started hacking Vance's car.
"He's got a Bluetooth speakerphone link. The phone's connected to the car." Hardison explained.
Parker walked over.
"If the cars off…" Parker pointed out.
"There's always a little power. That's why electric locks work." Hardison explained as he kept hacking.
"Boom. There's the electrical system. Okay. Testing protocols." Hardison kept muttering as he hacked the horn on the car.
Hardison sent out an SOS, using the horn and lights. They waited a long few minutes.
"Did it work?" Kaira asked.
"I-I don't know. I'm trying to get the phone speaker." Hardison said.
He got the speaker, and over the speaker, Vance was heard yelling at everyone to get to cover. Eliot yelled and everyone let out a breath.
"Ohh! My boy!" Eliot hugged Hardison hard as Hardison chuckled.
"That is what I'm talking about!" Eliot exclaimed as he let go and Kaira hugged Hardison next, burying her head in his chest.
Now that that was out of the way, the group kept searching around. Parker opened the fridge.
"We got to find this guy." Kaira told Eliot and Hardison, who were standing in a circle.
"It's up to us. Udall is smart. He's gonna want to release the virus in a public place." Eliot added.
"A grocery store?" Parker said from around the divider wall.
The group looked at her.
"The fridge is full of eggs. Full of 'em." Parker reported.
"Interesting. No. Something else. Hardison, can you track his phone? He's gonna want to go to the busiest place, somewhere crowded." Kaira said.
They left and headed back to the truck. Hardison hacked Udall's phone and tracked him to a subway station. They made it to a subway station. Well, the subway stairs that is. There were people everywhere. Hardison was looking at his phone.
"He's trying to block his phone's GPS, but there's enough wi-fi around to nail him. Wait! There! There! There!" Hardison stopped them at the street corner.
"He just went underground!" Hardison reported.
Kaira and Parker both saw the subway sign.
"Subway." Parker and Kaira both said.
Eliot yelled for them to go, and they ran into the station. They stopped and realized a train just left. Hardison checked his phone.
"He's not here." Hardison reported.
"Check the other side!" Kaira exclaimed as they ran to the other train platform.
They stopped and saw the train was about to stop, and people were gonna get on board. There were way too many people for a sweep.
"Which one is he?" Eliot asked.
"I can't tell." Hardison said.
"What do you mean, you can't tell?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"I got a 100 feet of concrete and live wires. Give me a second." Hardison told Eliot.
He got back on his phone.
The train came to a complete stop and the doors were opening. The doors closed and the train left.
"Okay, the signal's moving. He's on the train." Hardison reported.
Eliot realized the girls weren't there.
"So am I!" Parker came over comms, hanging from the train.
"So am I! Sorry, babes!" Kaira came over comms as well.
"All right, when you pick him out of the crowd, call us!" Eliot exclaimed as him and Hardison ran.
"No, We're on the train!" Parker exclaimed, hanging from the top of the train.
Parker realized she wasn't gonna be able to reach the boys on comms, so she gave up and her and Kaira made their way to a door.
Eliot and Hardison ran out onto the street. Hardison pointed out the convertible that was in front of the hotel. They ran to it. Hardison was on the passenger side, Eliot driver side. Hardison snatched the keys and tossed them to Eliot.
They got in and raced off. As Eliot drove off, Hardison was on his tablet, tracking Udall.
"Udall is still in the subway car. Next stop is the main station. Four lines intersect." Hardison reported.
"He's gonna release the virus in the main terminal." Eliot realized.
"If he pops the virus there, the infected people spread to the national monuments, the airport. We got to get 11 blocks in less than two h-" Hardison stopped when he saw the cops coming behind them in the rearview mirror.
"Oh no." Hardison said.
Eliot shifted gears and did a heard turn left.
"Parker, Kaira stop that train!" Eliot ordered over comms.
"We'll be at the booth…" Parker tried saying.
She tried to get up and got thrown back. Kaira made sure Parker was okay and continued crawling.
"We'll be there soon!" Kaira yelled.
Eliot did his best to evade the police.
"I need options." Eliot told Hardison, turning the car around to duck a car.
"Okay, Kai, Parker, there's a bend in the tunnel just ahead of you. If you can stop the train there, there's a maintenance corridor we can access." Hardison told the girls.
Parker and Kaira were now hanging off the side of the train. After dodging a train sign, Parker and Kaira made it in and put on the brakes.
Back on the street, Hardison told Eliot to make a left and head to the maintenance access point. They stopped and ran inside. They ran down the hallway and made it to the tunnel.
On the train, Parker and Kaira made it on the train.
Eliot and Hardison were running down the hallway.
"Parker, Kai, he'll have a bag or briefcase!" Eliot yelled.
Kaira and Parker started walking, realizing a lot of people had bags and briefcases.
2:35 PM
Parker and Kaira kept walking down the train, not sure what to look for.
"Guys, we're gonna need help. Can't tell which one he is." Kaira whispered.
Eliot and Hardison made it to the tunnel, jumping on the tracks.
"He's gonna be nervous. He's gonna be sweaty and twitchy." Eliot told the girls.
Hardison stopped him.
"No, no, no, no, no, he won't'. The eggs - that's how you make vaccine. You culture them in eggs. He's vaccinated himself." Hardison explained, out of breath from running.
"He's immune. Parker, Kaira, he's immune!" Eliot exclaimed as he started running with Hardison.
"Thanks." Kaira said quietly.
Her and Parker walked through, bumping into people. As Eliot and Hardison made it to the train, Parker bumped into someone and they yelled in pain. Kaira smiled as she realized they had a hit. She was beside the guy.
"Step on a nail?" Parker asked the guy.
"Give yourself a tetanus shot, Dr. Udall?" Kaira questioned Udall.
Udall coked a gun, causing the train of people to scream and get down.
"Yes, well… you're too late." Udall told the girl.
Outside, Eliot opened the doors.
"People will, uh, have to die. It's the only way to make the government wake up!" Udall yelled.
"Everyone out now! He's got a bomb!" Kaira yelled.
Hardison helped everyone off the train.
"I warned them for 40 years-40 years! And Yemen, 9/11, but they're still too slow! An apocalypse is gonna happen, just waiting for some terrorist with the right equipment to find what I found! Some people will die, but it's the only way to make the government wake up! See, you can't stop this!" Udall made his speech, raising his arm.
He had one handcuff on his wrist, the other hanging loose. Parker revealed she had the bomb.
As Eliot ran, Kaira tackled Udall against the train, but before Kaira could control his gun, he fired, hitting Eliot in the shoulder. Eliot gain control of the gun, and Kaira was behind Eliot. Udall let out another shot, hitting Kaira in the shoulder, letting out a yell. Eliot had Udall up by the jacket collar. He then elbowed Udall, knocking him out. Kaira used her good arm to steady Eliot. Kaira and Eliot could see the blood-forming from their wounds. Hardison kicked the gun away.
Eliot and Kaira helped each other go to cover behind two small dividing walls. Eliot and Kaira sat down on one side, Parker and Hardison with the bomb on the other. Kaira looked at Eliot's wound.
"I'm sorry. Oh, god, I'm so sorry." Kaira tried to hide the pain she was in.
"I'm sorry too, sweetheart." Eliot told her, holding his arm and using his weak arm to hold Kaira's face.
Kaira took off her jacket and pushed it against Eliot's shoulder wound, causing him to groan. Eliot found his and held it against Kaira's wound, causing her to groan. They nodded to each other to say they were okay and sorry.
"Can you stop this?" Parker asked.
Hardison looked at the injured hitters, getting out a multi-tool.
"Damn, guys. Are you okay?" Hardison asked them, concerned.
"I got him." Kaira assured him.
"I got her. Disarm the bomb." Eliot told Hardison.
Hardison looked at the bomb. There was glass covering the electronics, timer, C-4, and virus containers.
"Um, I could if I can get to it, but the edges of the glass are wired. Uh, we break that glass, it goes off." Hardison explained.
Parker pulled out a diamond she kept.
"I kept one diamond. Sorry." Parker said.
"Babe, all is forgiven." Hardison smiled at Parker.
She used the diamond and cut a circle into the glass covering the timer. One minute 25 seconds left on the timer. Parker removed the cut glass. From there, Hardison was able to cut the right wires and disarmed the bomb. It was intense for those few moments. Little did the group know, Udall had woken up and was crawling towards the gun.
"Tell me you shut it off." Eliot told Hardison.
"The bomb part is down, but there's an aerosol failsafe. It's gonna spray gas full of virus. Th-Th-There's no boom, but there's enough in there to contaminate the air for the next nearest stops. I mean, I-it gets the city, at least. The whole city, everybody in D.C dead." Hardison explained.
That wasn't gonna sit with the group. But Udall fired at the group, causing them to hide again. Udall fired another round. And kept firing.
Very quickly, the group realized that there was no way to get out of this without getting hurt. They had to stop the bomb. Even if it meant death. Eliot nodded at Parker. Parker nodded at Kaira. They were silently telling each other "kiss him for me". And that's what they did. Kaira kissed Eliot hard, the bittersweetness of the situation making it feel like a goodbye.
"Don't you dare go dying on me, Eliot." Kaira warned Eliot.
"I won't, Kai." Eliot promised.
Parker then leaned in to kiss Hardison.
"For luck." Parker told Hardison.
They kissed, Hardison grabbing the back of Parker's head. They touched their foreheads a moment before letting go. Eliot nodded to go.
He got up and ran towards Udall, getting shot in the thigh as he superman punched Udall. Meanwhile, Hardison dodged a bullet and ran outside the train to see Parker and Kaira running with the bomb. Hardison stopped at the edge of the train as he saw Parker set the bomb down. Hardison realized what Parker and Kaira were doing.
"Parker, Kaira, no! Don't do it! Parker! Kaira!" Hardison exclaimed.
He ran towards the girl, yelling their names. Parker got her butane torch ready as Kaira got the bomb ready to set off the gas. Kaira held the bomb up as Parker lit the gas on fire, causing a large flame to burn. Hardison stopped in his tracks, seeing the flame. Once the gas was gone, Kaira put the case down as Parker turned off her torch. They breathed a sigh of relief. They faced Hardison.
"Fire's the only thing that'll kill this thing, right?" Parker asked Hardison.
"Yeah. Yeah, that'll do-that'll do it." Hardison tried catching his breath.
He pulled both Kaira and Parker into a hug, all of them breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.
"Don't do that to me. I can't lose you." Hardison told his girls.
He let go, holding their shoulders.
"Do you understand? I can't lose you." Hardison told them.
Parker and Kaira shook their heads yes.
"Don't scare me like that." Hardison said.
"Yeah." Parker and Kaira whispered as they hugged Hardison again.
Kaira winced at the pain from the gunshot in her shoulder, but still hugged Hardison, feeling bad she scared him.
After they hugged, Kaira ran back inside the train to see a staggering Eliot, gunshot to the thigh and shoulder.
"Oh, damn." Kaira ran up to him.
She held him hard and close.
"I got you." Kaira told Eliot.
"I know, mama." Eliot held Kaira close, closing his eyes, relieved she was alive.
"Let's get you some help, okay?" Kaira told Eliot, helping him to walk off the train.
"You first." Eliot smiled weakly at Kaira.
Kaira let out a small chuckle.
4:03 PM
Eliot and Kaira were both bandaged up. Vance was talking to Eliot and Kaira at the edge of the ambulance, offering them a job. Eliot and Kaira had bandages wrapped around their chest, holding the shoulder gauze in place. Eliot also had crutches leaned against Kaira's leg, and bandages around his thigh. Blood was dripping down their arms.
"Come on, part-time. For your country. By the time we wait for the bureaucrats to wake up, it'll be too late." Vance offered.
"Yeah, we just met a guy that made that same argument. Couldn't wait for his country to catch up with him." Eliot said.
"So he tried blowing up a train to release a virus." Kaira shook to her no at the offer.
"All right." Eliot told the EMT angrily, getting him off.
Kaira and Eliot helped each other off the ambulance.
"The thing is, he did what he thought he had to do." Eliot said as him and Kaira hobbed to the grass.
"I'll tell you something, Vance." Eliot grunted as he got himself turned around.
Parker and Hardison joined them.
"I know firsthand. You become obsessed with beating your enemy, it's real easy to become him." Eliot told Vance.
Udall was escorted to a squad car by a cop. Vance looked at Eliot and Kaira.
"Promise you'll at least consider working with us again." Vance told Eliot and Kaira.
"We work with them now." Eliot told Vance.
"I already tied myself down to them, so." Kaira nodded back to Parker and Hardison, side hugging Eliot to steady him.
"Honor among thieves?" Vance asked.
"Something like that." Eliot said.
Kaira smiled.
"Something like that." She repeated.
Eliot and Kaira joined Parker and Hardison as they walked away.
"World can always use some more good guys." Vance called out.
"Yeah, well, too bad we're the bad guys." Eliot called out.
Kaira chuckled.
"Good bad guys. I like it. Should put that on the business cards." Kaira joked, causing the others to laugh.
"You're both shot. You should go to the hospital." Parker said.
Eliot dropped his crutch and Parker and Hardison used themselves as crutches to help Eliot walk as Kaira had her good arm around Parker.
"I don't do hospitals." Eliot said.
"Neither do I." Kaira added.
"I told you. They take getting shot very lightly." Hardison muttered.
Parker chuckled. They got in a car and drove back to the hotel.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Well, that was way worse than I thought it would be. Taking down a bioterrorist, Hardison nearly getting blown up, Eliot getting shot twice, me getting shot. It all went to hell fast.
When we got back to the hotel, first thing that needed to happen was for Eliot and me to get cleaned up. So, Eliot and I both got showers to clean the blood off our arms and Eliot's leg.
Then we needed fresh gauze and bandages on our wounds. And some pain pills. I just took some ibuprofen Hardison got from the local drug store. Eliot refused to take anything.
We were both in our hotel room, Parker and Hardison in the adjoining room. Eliot and I were sitting on the bed, putting fresh gauze on. Eliot held the gauze as I replaced the bandage. I then rewrapped Eliot's thigh wound. Eliot then wrapped my shoulder wound.
What kept replaying in my head was hearing Eliot's grunt when he got shot. Then seeing him staggering on the train. Knowing it was my fault Eliot got shot in the shoulder, it killed me.
Eliot just looked at me, and I can't tell if he's upset or pissed.
"What's on your mind, babe?" I asked.
"What the hell were you thinking, Kaira? Taking on Udall alone, disarming the bomb? You put yourself in too much risk!" Eliot got on my case.
And it's been too long of a day to start this.
"Like running head-on into Udall when he had a gun pointed at you wasn't risky! Twice, Eliot! You did that twice!" I went off.
"Because I can't lose you, Kaira!" Eliot yelled, getting upset.
This caused me to get upset, and I felt the tears come up.
"I can't lose you either, Eliot!" I yelled at him.
"Kaira, I'd rather take the punishment so you don't have to. You don't think hearing the pain in your voice after you got shot didn't kill me, especially since it was my fault?" Eliot questioned, now standing up.
I stood up in front of him.
"You think it didn't kill me that you got shot and it was my fault? I can't lose you either, Eliot!" I yelled.
I had to catch my breath, looking away for a moment. I turned back, and Eliot had a look on his face.
"On that train, I was scared as hell. The thought that I could've lost you, it nearly killed me, Eliot. And it killed me that it was my mistake that caused you to get shot. If he would've aimed a bit closer to your chest, you could've died, Eliot! That's the part that scared me! No matter what you think, you're not expendable, Eliot. You don't always have to take the punishment. Don't you get it, Eliot? I need you! Our children will need you Eliot." I let it all out.
I could tell Eliot was affected by what I said.
"Wait, Kaira, are you?" Eliot asked me.
I can't help but let out a little chuckle.
"No. But someday. Someday, we're gonna have kids. And when that happens, they're gonna need both of us. Cause I'll be damned if I'm gonna be alone." I told Eliot.
"I don't want you to be alone either." Eliot said.
I walked up to him, and we just held each other.
"I didn't mean to yell." I apologized to Eliot, starting to tear up again.
"I didn't mean to either. Just I hate seeing you hurt, mama." Eliot said, getting emotional.
"Me too, babe." I told Eliot.
I heard Eliot grunting a bit from his leg, so I helped him sit down on the bed. I then heard a knock on the hotel door. I looked through the peephole, seeing it was Parker and Hardison. I opened the door to let them in. We all sat down on the bed.
"Hey, everything okay? We heard the yelling." Hardison asked us.
"We're okay." Eliot assured them.
"It's okay. Just been a long ass day." I told them.
"Yeah. We can't lose you two, either." Parker told us.
Eliot and I looked at her.
"We need you, just as much as you need us." Parker said.
"So, let's agree to not lose each other, yeah?" Hardison made the deal.
"For better or worse." I muttered.
"Forever and always." Eliot muttered.
We then all hugged, and I started crying.
I nearly lost the three most important people in my life today. And I never wanted it to happen again. You don't know how many times I wanted to just ask Eliot to move into our house in the suburbs and stay safe not doing this job. But we couldn't leave Hardison and Parker. And we can't stop doing this job. So, we'd just have to be more careful. Cause we couldn't lose each other. And we both realized that if we wanted to have a family, we'd have to be more careful.
But right now, my shoulder was killing me, so I went to bed. Eliot beside me, as he always his. And I wouldn't have it any other way. No matter how many times he's a pain in the ass. Cause he's my pain in the ass. Forever and Always and for better or worse.