Avery immediately attacks whoever has grabbed her. She elbows him and a grunt is heard escaping her opponent. Turning, Avery throws a punch which is blocked. She throws a punch with her other hand but it's blocked as well.
"Hey, hey, hey. Relax Xena, it's me," a familiar male voice says and Avery stops fighting. She looks at the person in front of her and realizes who it is.
"Quinn?" Avery asks with a furrow of her brow and relief running through her body. There are hurried footsteps echoing in the air and Avery and Quinn glance at the opening of the alleyway.
"We need to go," Quinn says and he pulls out a pair of keys and hands them to Avery. "Go to the other end of the alley and turn right onto the street. My car's there."
"What? Where are you going?" Avery asks with wide eyes watches Quinn peek around the corner.
"I'll be right behind you. I'm just going to slow them down a little," Quinn replies before giving Avery a light push in the other direction. Avery scowls but runs through the alley as per the instructions.
When she gets to the end of it, Avery turns right and hits the unlock button on the keys. A car about 100 yards down the street blinks its lights and Avery runs over to it. She climbs in the passenger side and shuts the door behind her. Putting the key in to the ignition, Avery starts the car. Leaning back in her seat, Avery keeps her eyes glued to the alley entrance. She doesn't have to wait long when Quinn jogs out onto the sidewalk and over to the car. He opens the door and climbs in before shutting the door behind him.
"Let's get you back to your dad," Quinn says and he and Avery put their seat belts on before Quinn pulls onto the street and squeals away.
They don't make it far when sirens are heard behind them and Quinn mutters a curse word and smacks his hand on the steering wheel. Avery looks behind them through the back window and sees a cop car chasing after them. Glancing over at Quinn, she sees him pull off to the side of the road. The cop car pulls in behind them and shortly after, the cop walks over to their car. Quinn rolls the window down and looks up at the cop, giving him a grin.
"Officer," he acknowledges with a head nod.
"Do you know how fast you were going?" the officer says as he glances in the passenger seat at Avery.
"To tell you the truth officer I was in a hurry and wasn't even paying attention," Quinn says with a shake of his head and an sheepish smile. The officer glances between Avery and Quinn and studies them for a moment. Avery knows they need to get back to her dad and as soon as possible and if the officer runs Quinn's license she's sure they'll be in more trouble than they already are. She pulls out the card Sophie gave her and holds it out to the officer.
"Officer," she says with an innocent smile. The cop looks at the card and looks at Avery warily before taking it. He looks down at it and sees the number on it. With one more glance at Avery, the officer walks back to his car.
"What was that?" Quinn asks with a look over at Avery and a furrow of his brow.
"Our ticket out of this," Avery replies with a smirk and a glance over at Quinn. A few minutes later, the officer walks back to their car and hands the card back to Avery.
"You two have a nice day," he says with a tip of his hat and a smile. The officer walks away and climbs into his car. Quinn quickly pulls back onto the road and drives off, careful not to speed this time.
LEVERAGE
Avery and Quinn look up when they hear footsteps and a door close. Quinn had taken them to an old building before calling Eliot to give him directions. Avery smirks from her spot where she's sitting on the floor. Her father was not happy about where they were holed up, but at least she was safe.
Quinn stands up and motions Avery to hide which she answers with a scowl. Avery looks around as Quinn flattens himself against the wall by the door to their room. She sees a pipe lying on the ground and picks it up, twirling it in a circle a couple times. Quinn looks over to make sure she's out of sight and rolls his eyes when he sees the weapon in her hands. With a smirk aimed at Quinn, Avery hides around the corner. As the first person enters the room, Quinn moves to attack but stops abruptly when he sees it's Eliot and the rest of the team.
"Where is she?" Eliot asks as he looks around the room. Quinn nods his head towards the corner and Eliot turns his attention to it. Avery walks out from behind it with the pipe still in her hand. Eliot notices it and raises an eyebrow.
"What were you planning on doing with that?" he asks with a nod at the pipe and a smirk playing on his lips.
"Whatever I had to," Avery replies with a smirk of her own. A snort escapes from Eliot and he looks her over, making sure she's okay.
"Why don't you get her out of here Spencer. I'll take care of this," Quinn says with a genuine look at Eliot, causing everyone to look at Quinn in surprise.
"You'll take care of it," Eliot says with a raised brow and a curious look at the hitter.
"Yeah. You already owe me. What's one more favor?" Quinn replies with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. Eliot scowls but doesn't respond.
"Come on Ave. Let's go home," Eliot says with a wave of his hand. Avery gives Quinn a 'thank you' smile and walks over to her dad. Eliot wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in for a side-hug and guides her out of the room. The rest of the team follows after them.
LEVERAGE
The team is all back at headquarters and Nate and Sophie are sitting at the counter talking in low voices. Hardison is playing World of Warcraft on his computer. Parker is sitting in an armchair absentmindedly picking a lock, locking it, and then re-picking it again. Eliot is sitting on the couch with his feet on the table. His arm is around Avery who is sprawled out on the couch, her head lying on a pillow on Eliot's leg, fast asleep.
Eliot's phone rings and he quickly answers it before it wakes up Avery. Eliot puts the phone to his ear and says a few words, the conversation short, before hanging up. Setting the phone on the end table next to him, Eliot slumps back into the couch. Nate, Sophie, Parker, and Hardison are watching him closely.
"Was that Quinn?" Avery asks when her father doesn't seem to explain what the call was about. Eliot looks down to see her watching him.
"Yeah," Eliot answers with a nod before leaning his head back against the couch.
"And?" Nate asks with raised brows as everyone continues to watch the Hitter.
"It's taken care of," Eliot replies with a look down at his daughter.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Parker asks with a weird expression on her face. She glances over at Hardison who shakes his head and looks back over at Eliot.
"Don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer to Parker. This is Quinn. He's not me," Eliot answers with a glance at the thief. Parker nods her head and looks away.
"But it's over right?" Hardison asks with a furrow of his brow.
"Yeah, Hardison. It's over," Eliot replies with a sigh and a nod of his head before he squeezes Avery's shoulder gently.
Quinn's way isn't what Eliot would do nowadays, but he isn't complaining. At least they won't have to worry about these guys again. Eliot doesn't need to know exactly what was done; just that it was done. On the other hand, Eliot isn't looking forward to completing the growing list of favors he owes Quinn.