Nate waited alone outside the nondescript theater, waiting for his 'Third Man' to arrive. He had changed his clothes; a pristinely pressed, black turtleneck had replaced the old wrinkled button-up, and a dark coat swayed in the breeze. Hardison, Parker, Eliot waited for him inside the theater, watching the performance in grand horror no doubt. He watched as a yellow taxi pulled up to the curb. A woman with light brown hair tied into a ponytail in her mid-twenties stepped out of the cab after tossing a decent tip to the front seat. Nate moved forward while the woman hopped onto the curb. They stood in front of each other for a long moment. She broke first, cracking a broad grin.

"Hey, Nate,"

A smile tugged at the edges of his lips. "Hello, Liza,"

Still preferring flowery patterns, Elizabeth Sinclair possessed the brightest green eyes Nate had ever come across and a mind that almost rivaled his own. Almost. He recalled when Liza had been living with Maggie and himself when she was nineteen. He had made the mistake of taking her to I.Y.S. to work with him one day. The day had ended with Liza exposing a jewel thief hidden within the company's ranks and that said thief had been having an affair with the CEO's wife.

Liza opened her arms. "C'mon. No hug?"

Before Nate could object, Liza had already launched herself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug. He pulled back first. "Thanks for coming to meet me on such short notice." Nate shifted on his feet, still retaining eye contact. "I wasn't sure if you'd-"

"You should know better by now," she said, holding up her hand. "You call, I come in swingin'. That's how this works." That soft Georgia drawl that had charmed his ex-wife and fascinated his son manifested. She looked up at the theater's sign. "You tryin' out a new show and realize you don't remember how to socialize with other human beings?" She teased. When he didn't answer, she continued more seriously. "What's going on, Nate? Is everything ok? Is Maggie-"

"No, no," he interrupted. "Everything's good, fine." he tilted his head, his words coming from his mouth in fast succession. "I took this job with Bering Aerospace. One of the executives.."

"Not so nice?" She guessed.

He pressed his lips together in a frown. "Yeah, not so nice,"

She sighed, crossing her arms. "You really need some new friends,"

His brow furrowed. "Hmm, not my friend," he grumbled.

"Not that I don't enjoy getting a call from you, but you usually don't call unless you need something. So what do you need?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets. "You getting tired of working freelance yet?"

Her eyes narrowed while she pushed black framed glasses further up her nose. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Thing is," he said, ignoring her question. His tone reminded Liza of when he tried to recruit her to work with IYS. She knew Nate didn't like to lose; she also knew that would never change "This guy, Dubenich. He screwed me, and when he screwed me, he put a lot of people's work and jobs in danger,"

"So what d'ya want me to do about it? Profile him into oblivion?" Liza said, her eyes widening. "Because that's what I do. I know what people are gonna do and how they're gonna do it. I'm not like you, Nate. I don't take people head-on." She moved her hands, gesticulating wildly. "I can't-"

"I don't need you to be like me. If I didn't need you, I wouldn't have called. You know I wouldn't 've," Nate replied imperviously. "Now, I have this crew-"

"Hold it right there. You know I work alone. I don't have a lot of rules, I really don't." Liza dropped her arms. "But if there's one thing I don't bend on,"

His reply was instant. "You work with me,"

She gave a harsh breath. "You know that's different,"

"Look, I know this past year and a half has been hell, Liza. Especially for you and me," his voice had become softer. "But I would like to have you on this. Besides, if it goes right, pay's not gonna be anything to sneeze at either,"

"You have these guys, why do you need me?" she asked, feeling her dam of resolve beginning to crack.

"I can manage this team. I know what they're capable of," he said in a knowing and lofty tone. "I know what you're capable of. I can manage this... I need you to manage everything else," She looked at him for a long moment. "So what's the answer?" he jerked his head to the theater. "Show's about to start,"

She scrubbed a hand over her face, groaning, "Damn you, Nate Ford,"

He smiled, pivoting in the direction of the door while she followed after him. "Let's go get Sophie,"

"Wait," Her mouth dropped. "The Sophie?"

-O-

Liza followed Nate while he forked over the few necessary dollars for admission for the two of them. They went up a few stairs, entering the small auditorium. The production had just started, the spotlights turning on, illuminating the dingy medieval set. Three people waited in the back row, two men and a woman, watching the stage intently. At the sound of soft footsteps, Eliot turned around, his arms crossed. He saw Nate before noticing the woman behind him. Liza's breath caught in her throat when she recognized her, a pang of fear darting through her chest. Eliot Spencer. Her mind traveled back to a memory of Yemen in 2006; her classified profile of him had caused Eliot some trouble when he tried to topple the current regime. She could only hope her identity had never been leaked. She looked at the others. Alec Hardison, Parker. Those were some names she had heard of a time or two.

Her eyes darted to Nate's back while she thought: 'Oh, Nate, what did you do?'

Nate leaned against one of the chairs in between Hardison and Eliot. He gave a wayward glance to Liza and, then as if suddenly recalling, introduced: "Guys, Liza. Liza, you know Parker, Hardison, and Eliot,"

"This is your 'Third Man'?" Hardison asked, surprised. Parker quirked an appraising brow, gauging the other woman, before turning back around as the director came on stage announcing the first act.

"Yeah," Eliot answered slowly in close succession to Hardison's remark, raking his eyes over Liza. "Hate to break it to you about the 'Man' part,"

"Your criminal records don't do you all justice I'm sure," Liza rejoined, coming to stand in between Nate and Eliot. "Seriously, you've got to stop with this Third Man crap," she muttered to Nate. "You'll make somebody think I'm in the mob or somethin'."

Nate stifled a smile, only continuing to watch the stage as the first set actors and actresses came into the arena. Liza took note of the sparsely populated audience- a middle-aged couple who were no doubt family of the male lead, an older gentleman taking a nap in the front seat, and a young man writing furiously in his notebook. It wasn't long after the first set of actors left that a woman in an elegant crimson gown. Nate watched Sophie's performance intently, enraptured by the woman on stage, while the remaining four of his crew looked on in horror.

Sophie frolicked and writhed across the stage. "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts." She dropped to her knees, dramatically throwing her arms to the side. She leaned to the side, gesturing to her body. "Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst! Make thick my blood,"

Parker curled her lip in extreme distaste while Hardison's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Nate appeared to be moved by the outrageous performance, still captivated. Liza's nose wrinkled while she shook her head from side-to-side. Eliot was unable to move, his brow furrowed and his mouth slightly agape.

Sophie persevered through her performance with vigor."Stop up the access and passage to remorse, that no…" She paused before restarting her next line. "That no compunctious visitings of nature,"

At the back of the theater, Hardison criticized, unable to take his eyes away from the lone figure on stage. "She is very awful,"

"Is she injured?" Parker asked, genuinely confused. "In the head?"

"I have never wanted Lady MacBeth to die so quickly in my entire life," Liza said, momentarily glancing at Nate. "You may have slightly over exaggerated this Devereaux woman's ..umm.. skills,"

Resting his arms atop one of the chairs, Eliot observed: "Seriously, man. This is the worst actress I've ever seen,"

"This is not her stage," Nate answered before walking away, retreating down the stairs.

-O-

Nate, Parker, Liza, Hardison, and Eliot waited at the end of the alleyway as Sophie exited the theater. Liza, Parker, and Hardison leaned against the car while Nate and Eliot stood near brick exterior. Sophie adjusted the straps on her purse, searching for something in the bottom of the bag.

"No," Eliot said in an obstinate tone. "No, I vote no,"

Nate didn't take his eyes off Sophie. "Parker's right. Dubenich knows us, and we need a fresh face." Nate took a few steps forward, clapping as Sophie approached. "I thought you were great,"

A genuineness took hold of the grifter's expression, a quality Liza had yet to see that night. "My only fan," she replied. Flashes of Paris, stolen paintings, and mistaken gunshot wounds charged to the forefront of Nate's mind. "I'm a citizen now. Honest," she smiled.

Nate considered for a moment, almost flirtatious when he replied: "I'm not,"

"You're playing my side?" she questioned. He tilted his head to the side, shrugging a shoulder. Sophie looked over his shoulder at the other people standing near the end of the alley. Liza lifted her fingers in a wave. Sophie looked back to Nate. "I always thought you had it in you,"

Nate hid a smile. "Um..are you in?"

Sophie nodded. "I wouldn't miss this,"

Nate became flustered for a short moment. For several years, Sophie had always been the one that got away, the one thief the great Nathan Ford could never catch. He suddenly realized he hadn't expected her to agree. He turned around, clapping his hands together once, saying in a loud voice, "All right. All right, let's, uh, let's break the law just one more time,"

Nate opened the passenger door for Sophie while the remaining four squeezed into the back row. Nate dropped into the driver's seat, speeding away back to Hardison's loft.

-O-

The next afternoon...

Much to Hardison's initial dismay, the team swiftly made themselves comfortable in the penthouse while Hardison gathered more information on Dubenich. Nate situated himself on the armrest. Sophie sat cross-legged on the sofa, taking notes while Parker rested on the opposite side, her feet propped on the coffee table. Hardison and Liza sat on the couch adjacent to the television screen. Eliot came from the kitchen, a big bowl of popcorn in one hand and a beer in the other.

"Victor Dubenich, executive vice-president in charge of new technology development over at Bering Aerospace," Hardison explained as Eliot kicked the younger man's legs out of the way, allowing Liza to steal a handful of popcorn. He stepped over Parker's legs before sitting next to Sophie. " Rich daddy, trust fund, Yale MBA. Blah, blah blah,"

Liza studied the pictures on the screen carefully, flipping the pages of information on her lap. "A malignant narcissist. Great,"

Nate took a sip of his coffee. "Victor? Now when was the last time you met a Victor?"

"Vietnam. Town called Banho Zay," Eliot answered.

Liza's eyes went to Eliot. "The Chinese border?" she asked, tossing some popcorn into her mouth.

Eliot leaned back into his seat, looking at Liza consideringly. "That's an odd thing for you to know,"

"That's an odd place for you to be," she countered.

Sophie offered a hum, tilting her head, giving Eliot a wayward glance. "She's got a good point,"

"Now Bering is in charge of a lot of big fat government contracts," Hardison continued. "Some Department of Defense research, very classified stuff,"

"Can we use that?" Parker asked.

"No, I don't think so," Hardison said, pointing to the screen. "Dubenich is in charge of their commercial airline business,"

"Alright. I know when you sent Dubenich his designs, you weren't supposed to make any copies." Nate turned in Hardison's direction.

Hardison placed a hand over his heart, offering an offended expression. " No, I promise. That would be very wrong,"

Unimpressed, Nate said: "Show me your copies." A moment passed before Hardison cracked a small grin. He pressed a button on the remote, and schematics, records, and other documents floated onto the screen. Nate pushed himself to his feet, setting his coffee on the table.

"It's an airplane," Eliot said.

"It's a short alt domestic airliner, yeah, usually one-hour flights. It's the fastest growing segment of the industry, very fuel efficient. High tech," Nate explained easily, coming to stand behind the couch Hardison and Liza were sitting. Eliot stilled, pulling off his glasses in disbelief. Hardison looked at Nate, raising his brows. A piece of popcorn missed Liza's mouth when she turned in surprise to Nate. Sophie and Parker were the only ones who didn't appear to be surprised. "Very nice carbon nose, it's got the titanium wrap. 3 to 1,"

"When did you become an expert on airplanes?" Liza questioned, picking up the piece of popcorn she dropped before reaching for the pizza on the table.

"You know, you pick up things here and there," he replied.

"You pick up a lot of stuff," Hardison commented. Parker let out a short laugh. Hardison directed a picture of both Pierson and Dubenich onto the screen. "Check this out. Now Dubenich and Pierson- they were head to head for five years trying to grab the lead in an industry that's worth like eleventy-billion dollars,"

"So Pierson got there first," Parker figured. "And Dubenich took a shortcut,"

Nate stared at the screen. "So he's got a rival. He's got a rival that pisses him off so much he hired us to steal his designs. This is good,"

"What are you thinking, Nate?" Sophie asked.

"I'm thinking Nigerians," he said quietly, nearly to himself. "Yeah, Nigerians will do nicely." he smiled to himself as he stalked away.

Sophie moved her pen through her fingers. The remaining four on the couches looked to her for an answer for Nate's peculiar behavior. Sophie returned to note taking, down turning her head, simply replying: "Well, he hasn't changed a bit,"

Author's Note: Hello, dears! Well, I humbly (and finally!) present to you my OC Elizabeth Sinclair, or as we shall call her: Liza. I hope this OC will have a smooth transition into this story and a realistic interaction with the rest of the cast. If anyone has any ideas as to whom you think Liza most resembles in the real world, give me some celebrity (or noncelebrity) resemblances to look up. I always think that people's creative opinions are super interesting! :-) I hope I have kept everyone in character as well as keeping the story rolling instead of hindering it. As always, I am up for some comments. Let me know what you're thinkin'! I hope everyone reading this has a fantastic day and rest of their week.

Xx.

tigerlilyschild: Hey, thanks for commenting on my story. :-) The reason the first two chapters are just of the opening scenes with nothing new added is that I thought it was important we introduce Nate and the team before the OC. This story is a rewrite of season one with the insertion of my OC Liza. I hope you'll continue reading my story after she has been fully introduced to the team! Best wishes! Xx