Chapter 4
Three days passed and still Nate remained in ICU and the doctor could give them no assurances that he would make it through. He allowed Sophie to go in and see him for a few minutes during the visiting hours and she stood by his bed watching his chest rise and fall before taking her seat outside waiting for him to come back to them. Sterling had organised that the ICU had two guards outside the doors twenty-four hours a day and David was also assigned two agents and told to stay in his house with his daughter until this was over.
Nate was moved out of ICU and into his own room after three days however it took another two days for Nate to surface. The doctor explained that because he was a drinker his system was not at its best and that was why he was taking so long to come back. Sophie was immediately at his side as she heard him groan. She took his hand and leaned over him.
"Nate…Nate open your eyes Nate." Sophie said as she squeezed his hand gently.
The Mastermind's eyes flickered open and he found himself looking up into the big brown eyes of the woman he loved, eyes that were filled with unshed tears.
"Sophie…" He almost grunted.
"Yes Nate…yes my darling." Sophie smiled down at him.
"What…what happened? David…Elysia?" Nate said looking around the room widely and trying to sit up.
"Everybody is fine Nate, we are all fine, David is fine and so is his daughter." Sophie reassured him.
"Moreau…" Nate asked.
"Don't worry about Moreau everything is under control." Sophie said but saw the look in his eyes before he closed them and drifted back into unconsciousness.
Sophie held onto his hand staring down at him trying to control her own emotions then turned to Eliot her eyes full of fear.
"We have to get Moreau before he decides he has to." She told the Hitter and Eliot nodded. He too knew that the moment Nate was fully awake he would want to take Moreau down, especially if he thought that Moreau was going to present a danger to them or to Elysia.
"How do we do that? The man is gone man, he's gone I don't know where he is." Hardison said, he had been trying to get a lead on the man since the day all of this happened.
"My sources have also come up empty." Sterling said looking at the man in the bed and knowing they were all right about what he would do when he came fully awake.
"Well he is around and waiting for the right time to strike." Eliot stated, he knew Moreau, better than all of them and he knew the man once on a mission would not waver, he was going to come after Nate and kill him of that he was sure. He might come after them too but only to get to Nate, Nate was the one he saw as the reason for his downfall, Nate was the target.
It was early morning on the a few days later and Nate came fully awake, he lay staring at the ceiling under the dim lighting of the hospital room just to catch his bearings and go through everything in his mind. He hated hospitals he thought to himself as the smell of antiseptics and the hospital sounds invaded his senses. He moved his eyes around the room taking in the figures of Parker and Hardison sitting next to each other on the chairs, then the figure of Sophie who half lay on the small sofa. Next he saw Eliot who stood staring back at him as he leaned against the wall beside the door that was closed.
"How long?" Nate asked softly, he had no idea how long he had been here. He remembered being shot, he remembered waking up briefly and Sophie telling him everybody was fine and then nothing until this moment.
"A few days." Eliot replied moving to the man's side. "That was a close call Nate."
"Moreau?" Nate asked.
"He is still out there." Eliot told him, there was no use lying to the man he would know anyway. "David is under Interpol protection him and his daughter although I doubt he would go after him again. Sterling his here and you are also under protective custody."
Nate smiled at his Hitter. He knew Eliot did not want to be telling him anything but knew that he would want to know.
"How are they?" Nate asked his eyes moving to the remainder of his team and his wife.
"Worried and scared." Eliot said.
Nate nodded then tried to reach for the glass beside his bed which Eliot then lifted and held out to him to take a few sips of water. Then he put the glass down and looked back at the Mastermind.
"I know you are going to want to go after Moreau Nate but…"
"No Eliot I don't want to, but he is going to be coming and you know that." Nate interrupted him. "He is going to be coming for Sophie, for them."
"I know."
"I have to stop him."
"We have to stop him." Eliot correct him. "We are a team and we will stop him, that was the only way to take him down before and it is the only way to take him down now Nate."
Nate lay his head back and closed his eyes. Eliot was probably right, and it was the only way to take him down but that meant putting Sophie at risk and that was something he was not willing to do. The others could take care of themselves although them being at risk was also not optimal. Moreau had come after him not them, he knew why of course, he made sure the mark knew he was the one in charge, the one who was responsible for their downfall, he was the director of operations and if there was any comeback it would fall on him. He knew his team thought he was simply egotistic when he did that, when he was there at the takedown and made sure the mark knew it was him that took him down and he liked that they thought that.
"Nate…" Sophie said coming awake and seeing Eliot standing beside the man's bed.
"Sophie." Nate said looking at her and smiling. "How are you?"
"Better than you." She said moving to his side and leaning in for a kiss. "I was scared Nate, we nearly lost you."
"I'm fine Sophie really." Nate said seeing the concern in her face.
"Nate…hey Nate." Hardison said also approaching the bed with Parker. "It's good to see you awake man."
"Thanks Hardison." Nate smiled at him.
"So you brought Sterling in?" Nate asked looking at Sophie.
"We needed help. He is going to be coming for you Nate and we need to be ready for him, plus we needed cover for…this." She said softly.
Nate nodded at her and then closed his eyes. He was tired and more than a little sore. He also did not want a confrontation with Sophie right then because he knew what she was going to say.
"He's out." Eliot said looking down at the Mastermind who had drifted back into sleep.
Sophie looked down at her husband and sighed heavily. He was weak and he was vulnerable, and he was going to want to go after Moreau and her nor them were going to be able to stop him she thought squeezing his hand gently.
When Sterling arrived at ten that morning Nate was still out, and the team were sitting talking amongst themselves trying to come up with a plan to deal with Moreau before Nate took things into his own hands. Sterling had been there an hour when Nate resurfaced. He awoke to see his whole team and Sterling standing at his bedside.
"How are you feeling darling?" Sophie asked as she took his hand in hers.
"Fine Sophie." Nate said giving her a smile and squeezing her hand gently.
"Sterling." He said as Sterling walked up to him.
"Nate."
"Thank you…" Before Nate could finish his phone started to ring. Eliot picked it up looking at it but not recognising the number. He handed the phone to the Mastermind who answered putting it on speaker so that they could all hear.
"Ford." Moreau said as Nate answered.
"Moreau." Nate said looking at his Hacker who immediately started a trace.
"Tell your Hacker not to bother I won't be on long enough."
"What do you want Moreau?"
"You. I want you Ford. I want you to pay for the four years you took from me and I intend to make you pay for every minute."
"Really?"
"Yes Ford. By the way, don't worry about the girl and her father I took care of them." Moreau said with a slight sneer in his voice. "You should not make deals you don't intend to stick to."
Nate looked up at Sterling his eyes questioning, the Interpol agent turned away and dialled a number. Nate watched him and could see by his body language that Moreau was not lying.
"Their blood is on your hands Ford. Who will be next I wonder, your beautiful wife…"?
Nate fought to control his emotions as he lifted the phone to his ear and took it off speaker, his team watching him.
"I am going to find you Moreau, I am going to find you and those four years will seem like a walk in the park. I am not going to put you away, I am not going to play games, I am going to kill you do you understand Damian." Nate said his voice cold and hard and devoid of all emotion.
"We shall see Ford, we shall see." Moreau said hanging up the phone.
Nate put his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes fighting for emotional control.
"Nate…" Sophie said stepping forward and placing her hand on his which lay against his chest holding his phone.
"She was only ten Sophie." Nate said softly opening his eyes and looking into hers. She could see the anger, the sorrow, the recrimination and the determination in those blue eyes and she shivered slightly. "She was a little girl and now she is dead because of me."
"No Nate." Eliot said stepping forward. "Not because of you, this is on Moreau not you."
Nate looked at his Hitter and then at the rest of the people gathered around his bed. He shook his head slightly and then closed his eyes leaning back into the pillow.
"I am tired. I need…I need some time. Please leave." He said not opening his eyes.
"Nate."
"Sophie please, I need to be alone for a while." Nate said keeping his eyes closed.
"Ok Nate…" She said leaning forward and placing a kiss on his lips but receiving no response. "But we are just outside Nate. We are all with you and we will make him pay. Together Nate, we will do this together." She said then squeezed his hand before leaving the room followed by Parker, Hardison and Sterling.
Eliot walked up to the bed and looked down at the Mastermind. He shook his head slightly as Nate opened his eyes and he saw death in them.
"Don't do this Nate, not to us, not to her, don't shut us out. You need us and we will get him for this, we will get him." Eliot said then he also walked out the room closing the door behind him. He hoped he and Sophie had got through to Nate or they were all in a lot of trouble, and Nate was going to get himself killed.