Disclaimer: I had this really nifty con planned out to steal the rights to Leverage. BUT, last minute I was caught and given a stern talkin' to by Eliot. I was so dazed by his eyes & lips…'cough' I mean tone, that I agreed not to do it. =)

AN: I'm sorry it took so long, I had a SERIOUS case of writer's block.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Chapter 3

The next two weeks were…interesting to say the least. Ally became a regular fixture at Nate's, which wouldn't have normally been a problem for Eliot…except that it was used as their office as well.

She was everywhere. At least that's what it seemed like to the hitter. To be fair though, she stayed out of his way, didn't attempt conversation with him; let alone any type of interaction, and did her damnedest to ignore him as often as possible.

Which was fine with him.

But for some reason he couldn't fathom, Parker had adopted the red head. And in return it seemed as if Ally had formed a bond with their eccentric thief. In the last week alone, they had gone to the movies, had lunch twice, and even gone grocery shopping. Eliot had no idea how that was something to get as excited about as Parker had been when she returned, but she didn't stop talking about it for an hour. He might have found out if he had been listening, but he had learned long ago how to tune the blonde out when his brain needed a break.

Hardison's theory was that they had the same eccentric personality, as well as quite a few of the same likes. But Eliot wouldn't know, as he did his best to ignore Ally whenever she was around. But from what he had seen, her personality was nowhere near as 'off' as their thief's was. Straight-laced would be a better term for her. Although every time he thought that, it sat wrong with him…it didn't seem to belong in the same sentence when describing her. But as per usual, whenever he entertained the thought of trying to figure her out, however briefly those moments were, a headache would form and the moment would pass.

He held firmly in his belief that there was something about her that didn't quite fit. He'd only seen her around her father, brother and boyfriend a handful of times, but when he did, she seemed as if she was forcing herself to be the perfect, polite and obedient, daughter-sister-girlfriend; all prim and proper. And it always seemed wrong to Eliot, as if she was trying to force an outfit on that didn't fit. But sometimes he would see brief flashes of a completely different personality, one that wasn't so demure. One that had a little sass and actually acted like a twenty four year old and not like someone in their forties. But then it would disappear, replaced by the one that she presented to everyone else. Why did no one else see that?

Okay, maybe he had been paying more attention to her than he originally thought.

Eliot looked up from his beer and across the room to the subject of his thoughts, wondering why the hell he was hanging around when this was supposed to be one of their rare days off. Ally had Sophie, Hardison and Parker playing cards of all things. An activity that had the thief much more excited than she should be.

Ever the peacemaker, Sophie spoke up, "Why don't you join us Eliot?"

His eyebrow rose in amused disbelief. Was she joking? Why in the hell would he want to do that?

But then he saw how Ally's demeanor tensed, and he smirked. "Sure, why not. What're we playin?" he asked as he took a seat next to Hardison, putting him across the table from the red head.

His darker side secretly enjoyed how uncomfortable his decision to play was obviously making her. But as she had been making him feel the same way for weeks, he couldn't really find it in him to care.

The cards were dealt and the rules explained. They were playing a game of Irish Twist it seemed. It was pretty much the same as the card game Uno, but played with poker cards.

When it became Parker's turn, Eliot watched as she closed her eyes and started feeling the corner of her card.

"What the hell are you doin'?"

The thief didn't answer right away, as she didn't know it was her he was talking to since her eyes were closed.

"Parker!"

"Shh Eliot, I'm trying to read," she replied finally.

Eliot had noticed the moment the cards where in his hand that they had braille writing in the corner, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Parker was trying to read them as such.

"Eight of Diamonds!" she declared proudly, laying the card down in the center pile.

"It's actually a Jack of Hearts mama," Hardison corrected her gently.

The thief's eyes opened quickly and a pout formed when she realized he was right.

"I thought I had it right that time."

Ally reached out and found the card, rubbing the pad of her index finger over the top corner briefly. "You just have the pattern backwards. Here, let me show you," she offered, reaching out to find the blonde's hand.

It was then that Eliot realized…Ally was teaching Parker to read Braille.

"Oh, okay, now I've got it," Parker proclaimed excitedly.

"Why in the hell are you learnin' to read braille? You ain't blind Parker."

"Ally reads it, and I'm her friend. So I should know how to read it to," she answered simply.

"Ally was actually giving us all a little lesson," Sophie added.

"It's actually kinda cool man," Hardison admitted with a grin.

"Would you…like me to show you?" Ally offered tentatively.

His three teammates all turned to him with expectant expressions, waiting for his reply. Eliot just ignored them and searched the red head's face. It was obvious to anyone who cared to look that she was apprehensive of his answer. And for some reason, he couldn't find it in him not to recognize her offer for the olive branch it was.

"Sure, why not. It could be useful to know," he finally conceded, not missing the tension leave the others' bodies.

And just like that, he found himself being taught braille by everyone at the table. The warmth of Ally's small hands as she gently led the pads of his fingers over the braille labeling, wearing a tentative smile, left his ire of her momentarily forgotten. He even found himself smirking at moments in the game as hints of everyone's competitiveness came out, resulting in skipped turns and team ups, only to lead to smiles and good natured ribbing. And so for the next hour they played, Nate even joining in halfway through when he got home from wherever he had been. No one bothered to notice that at some point during the game…any rivalry faded, leaving only six friends laughing and enjoying a good game of cards.

"Is that necklace special or somethin'?" Parker suddenly asked as Hardison shuffled the cards.

"Hmm?" Having been deep in thought, the thief's question seemed to surprise Ally.

"Your necklace…you've been playing with it for half an hour."

"Oh, it was a gift from my mother."

"Why a bee?"

A soft smile lit Ally's face. "A bee symbolizes industry, humanitarianism and compassion. They work tirelessly to contribute to their community and have an innate sense of fellowship. My mom believed that it was a person's responsibility to help where they could and not just sit back idly when something could be done."

"And that's why you help at the school," Sophie concluded with a smile.

Ally nodded. "I do as much as I can to try and honor her memory. And helping children makes me happy."

'You can't imagine the…rush, the feeling I get from helping others. It's so rewarding to help people with so little when I have so much. Why shouldn't I share with them and help where I can?'

'You're somethin' else sweetheart,' Eliot replied with a smile, before leaning in to kiss her lovingly.

'I can only hope that my grandmother would be proud of me…if she were still alive,' she whispered sadly.

'I know she would,' he answered.

"I'm sure you mom would be so proud of how you turned out then," Eliot replied dryly as the memory faded.

The silence that followed was immediate and painfully deafening. And the olive branch that had been tentatively offered, was snapped in half, leaving nothing but twigs and a harsh return to reality.

Ally choked back what suspiciously sounded like a sob as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Frozen by their shock, the others could do nothing but stare at the 'train wreck' that the situation had just become.

The hitter hadn't quite meant for it to sound as callous as it had. But it was too late to take it back now. No matter how...enjoyable the last hour of distraction had been, that's all it had been; a distraction from the truth of her true nature.

Her voice was dangerously quiet and serenely calm as she addressed him. "I would kindly ask you to never speak disrespectfully of my mother again. You can hate me all you like, but do not insult her memory. I have done nothing to deserve this treatment you have directed at me. I have tried to be civil in your presence because I enjoy spending time with the others. But if you are not willing to act like an adult, I will stop coming over here, because I am done submitting myself to your verbal abuse." Her polite tone never wavered, making the action that much more of an accomplishment, as it served to not only insult the hitter, but chastise him as well.

There was the sass he was talking about, he thought with an internal smirk, before the realization of being told he was acting childish by a twenty four year old slapped him in the face.

Varying degrees of expressions adorned the team's faces as they watched the petite redhead stand up for herself quite admirably to their gruff hitter for yet a second time. It wasn't every day that someone stood toe to toe with Eliot Spencer once, let alone twice.

"Not used to people callin' you out, I get it," he chuckled weakly, pushing back the speck of remorse that had formed. "But I've had experience with your type sweetheart. You're not as selfless as you make yourself out to be."

"I thought you had…the last hour was…" she began in confusion.

"You thought wrong," Eliot interjected harshly, trying to ignore the hurt on her face.

"Parker, we're taking Ally out for lunch," Sophie announced, giving Eliot a disgusted glare as she stood up and gently took Ally's arm and led her to the door. Parker picked up Ally's purse and cane before following.

A derisive scoff escaped Eliot once the girls had left.

"Eliot, that's enough!" Nate barked out. "You've made your dislike of Ally very clear, but you need to stop going out of your way to insult her further. Go home and cool off. And don't come back until you can act civil. I'll call you if we have a job."

Jaw clenched at the mastermind's commanding tone, Eliot silently turned and left. Even though she wasn't there at the moment to further irritate him, he silently agreed that he needed to get away and calm down. Maybe if he was lucky he could find something or someone to hit….violently.

He knew immediately after saying it that he had crossed the line including her mother in his issues with her. His mama had taught him better. Ally really hadn't done anything in the last couple of weeks to condemn herself further. But then again, he hadn't really spent a lot of time in her presence. But Nate was right. While he might not like her, there was no excuse for him to outright attack her when she had done nothing to provoke him. He needed to lay off.

'You're not very bright are you," she sneered, not caring that she had been found out. 'Of course it was me. I have a certain…lifestyle that I would like to keep. The money will help with that.'

'But he's your father,' Eliot had managed to get out through his shock.

She made an ugly face. 'He hasn't been my father for years. He cares more for the next deal he can make. Nothing more.'

Eliot shook himself mentally at his moment of weakness. There was no way he was wrong about her, he thought to himself as he got in his truck.

So why was it beginning to sound as if he was trying to convince himself more than anything?

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"So I was thinking…that new romantic comedy with Ashton Kutcher comes out tomorrow, you want to go see it?" Olivia asked her friend as she took a sip of her cappuccino.

Ally continued to distractedly pick at her Danish as if she hadn't heard.

"Or we could go dancing. Get really drunk and take advantage of your personal driver for the night," she tried instead. Still, the red head did not respond. "Of course, there's always the option of skinny dipping in Boston Bay. That could be pretty fun."

"Mmm?" Ally finally responded, looking up with a confused expression.

"There you are," Olivia chuckled.

"I'm sorry Olive, I'm just…"

"You're not still worrying over what that asshole said are you? It's almost been a week. Like you told him, he doesn't know you. He's not worth this…mood you're in. Now I want you to repeat after me. I will not let harsh words turn me into a pouting teenager. Go on…say it," she urged with a grin.

"Ha ha," Ally replied dryly. "You're right though. I won't let it affect me anymore," she promised.

"Good. Now, were you more interested in the movie or…oh my. Girl I wish you could see right now. Because if I didn't like girls more…"

"What are ya on about?" Ally chuckled.

"The gorgeous specimen of man that just walked in. He's a little on the short side, but everything else makes up for it. The boy definitely works out," she explained, obviously appreciating the view. "Even the long hair is working for him. Reminds me of an actor on a show I once watched. You remember the one I told you about? About the vampire in L.A.?"

"Are you talking about the one where the central character was fighting a group of evil lawyers?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I swear he looks just like the main lawyer."

"I still can't believe you watched that. Evil lawyers? Not really original in my book," she smiled. "We can go see the movie, it looked…"

"No, I just want a black coffee. That's it," the voice insisted gruffly.

Ally's eyes widened and her face paled the slightest. "Ally? What's wrong sweetie? Are you okay?" Olivia was by her side instantly.

"A large. How hard is that to understand?"

"That's him," Ally whispered desperately. "That's Eliot."

Olivia looked from her to the man she had previously been admiring. "That's the asshole?" she replied incredulously. "I think I'll go introduce myself," she declared, her chocolate eyes narrowing as she began to stand up.

"Olive no. Please. I think I'll go to the restroom and give him a few minutes to leave," she stated, getting up and making her way as quickly and carefully as possible through the tables. Sighing in resignation, Olivia sat back and waited for her return.

Eliot turned around with his coffee minutes later and caught the dark skinned woman staring at him. A charming smile appeared on his face as he walked over to her. "Hello beautiful. My names Eliot. What's yours?"

She stood up slowly to face him, her height giving her a good five inches over him, wearing a look of disdain. "I know who you are," she answered, before pulling her hand back and slapping him in the face hard enough to jerk his head to the side. "Olivia Phillips, Allyson Hayes' best friend," she all but growled.

"So you're the elusive Olive," Eliot said, rubbing his reddened cheek.

"Ally is the sweetest, most kind hearted person I have ever met. If you had spent even the tiniest amount of time trying to actually get to know her, you'd realize that. For someone to even suggest the things you said to her…it's just ludicrous."

"She got you to drink the cool aid to huh?" he chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee.

"She's my friend. Maybe you've heard the word?" she hissed. "I would say you owed her an apology for your unadulterated rudeness, but that would require you talking to her and I don't want you anywhere near her."

"Not a problem. I don't spend my time around fakes."

"How would you know she's a fake? She said you two never had an actual conversation."

"I can tell the type…trust me."

"I'd trust you about as much as I'd trust someone selling electronics from the back of a van. There is nothing fake about her."

"She's twenty four and still lives with her father who's rich and she refuses to work. Instead, she 'volunteers' at a school."

"Volunteers?" Olivia repeated with a chuckle. "Is that what she told you?" Eliot's smug expression spoke for him. "She owns that school dumbass," she spat, shocking him with the news. "Why do you think it's named after her mother's maiden name? She works her ass off six days a week making that place run as smoothly as it does and visiting the hospital. I have to force her to get out and have fun. Of course her father, Kieran and Josh don't make that easy. Parker's been helping me get her out a little more, but it's still like trying to get a cat to like water."

Eliot wondered briefly what she meant by the comment about the men in Ally's life, before registering the last thing she said. "You've met Parker?"

"Yeah I've met her. She's an odd one, but she's a good person. Honestly you were the only one of your group I hadn't met up until now."

Why did that surprise him as much as it did?

"Ally refuses to work for her dad, not in general, FYI. She doesn't have the passion for numbers that she does for those children. And she hasn't spent a dime of her father's money for years. So the next time you want to humiliate someone, get your facts straight. Because if you hurt her or make her cry again? I'm going to punch you," she finished with a smile. "Have a good day Mr. Spencer," she concluded in a dismissive voice before sitting back down and taking a sip of her cappuccino.

Eliot left the coffee shop in a somewhat distracted state, mulling over the surprise confrontation and the information it had revealed. The tiny seed of doubt that had formed sometime in the last week since that train wreck of a card game began to grow.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

They were getting closer to Moreau every day.

He had tried for months to do what he could to prevent the inevitable, but without telling them the truth; which was NOT an option, all he could do was watch their backs and hope it was enough.

"What the…" he growled as he collided with someone just inside the door of the bar.

It was Ally. Of course it was. But she didn't look like the woman he usually encountered. Her hair looked unkempt under her beanie, and due to her unbuttoned, wool coat that seemed to hang limply from her hunched shoulders, he could see that her cream blouse was rumpled and not even tucked into the dark blue slacks she wore. Where the hell was the woman that always had the ability to brighten a room with just her smile and seemed to cheer up everyone around her? Excluding himself of course.

"Eliot…I can't…just…." she seemed to be struggling to get the words out.

How the hell had she known it was him?

"…please don't…not today," she finished in a whisper.

It was her pleading tone that stopped his tongue from uttering the next insult, but it was her ocean hued gaze looking up at him that had him forgetting to draw in his next breath. This was not the cheerful, easy going woman that he had been loathing the last month. What stood in front of him instead, was a broken woman consumed by raw anguish and crippling grief.

Why did he have the sudden urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her?

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen such heartache reflected in someone's eyes. Anything that might have been on the tip of his tongue to use as a barb against her was erased as he observed her. His mind was having too difficult of a time trying to come to terms with the expression on her face, one he could never remember having seen on the one from his memory.

Parker took her arm gently and led her around the hitter. "C'mon, let's go for a walk. We'll go to the park and swing."

The red head nodded before looking in Hardison's direction. "I'll see you on Wednesday?"

"Most definitely," he answered, taking a step forward to pull her into a quick hug. "Six o'clock, minions and chocolate."

Hardison saw Eliot's confused expression as the girls left and decided to elaborate. "Despicable Me." At the hitter's continued befuddlement he rolled his eyes. "Little yellow dudes with goggles? It's a movie? She likes animated ones."

Eliot was still trying to process. "They're going to the park to swing? It's January."

"It calms her," the younger man explained. "And it's only 60F out. She's from Ireland man."

The two men stood in silence for a moment. Eliot felt as if the earth had tilted on its axis. He was mentally spinning with confusion over what had just happened and he couldn't figure out why the whole situation was sitting wrong with him.

Hardison just watched in mild amusement as the hitter tried to figure things out.

"You know, if you wanted to take another stab at her, that would have been the perfect moment." He didn't hide his irritation for his teammate.

"What happen…Josh didn't get her a piece of jewelry she wanted?" The barb didn't hold its usual bite. He was too busy trying to wipe the image of her haunted expression from his mind.

"Nah man," Hardison replied in an unusually somber tone. "She was at the children's hospital all night."

Eliot's forehead furrowed in question. "She volunteers there," the hacker added. The hitter snorted. Hardison's eyes hardened, but then he just shook his head. "One of the kids died last night. He was six," he finished softly, before turning and heading to the back elevators.

at the hospital she volunteers at…

she owns that school dumbass…

she hasn't spent a dime of her father's money for years…

she was at the children's hospital all night…

please don't…

It was at that moment that reality finally caught up and sucker punched him in the face, throwing his mind into a tailspin as it tried to reconcile what he now accepted as the truth, from what he had thought he had known all along.

Her beautiful turquoise eyes, so full of grief, pain and sorrow; so much more sorrow than he'd ever seen reflected in one person's gaze for a child not even hers…

….reminded him nothing of the deep brown ones from his past.

AN: Yeah I know…about time, right? (Eliot & Me). Lol. I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to evolve his perception of her. I hope you guys liked it. =)

Jen