AN: Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you enjoy this longer than usual chapter.

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Chapter 5

Elle awoke with a shock – eyes wide, vision sharp and every sense alive. She felt good. Strangely good. She turned to see Dr. Hank French removing a syringe from her arm and had a moment of déjà vu. Then she remembered the club and Phil.

"Why aren't I in pain?"

He pulled out a small flashlight and shinned it in her eyes for a moment as she blinked in irritation. Nodding in satisfaction, he mumbled to her as he continued his examination. "I've injected you with a bit of Adam Monroe's blood. It seems to be working. You had some broken bones in both your hands, but they appear to be fine now." She seemed to remember a few more injuries than just broken fingers but lifted her hands to examine them anyway. Hmm, her hands did appear to be normal except for some broken nails. Elle fiddled with the nail of her left index finger and sighed. She'd just gotten them done yesterday!

"Flex them for me." With a roll of her eyes she did as she was told and gripped her hands into balls and then extended her fingers as far out as they would go. There was no pain and no scarring although she knew that there should have been. She looked up at Dr. French.

"Is the target dead?"

"Hmm, I don't know. They haven't brought him in yet for me," he murmured distractedly. "Shoot that glass over there." She zapped it with a flick of her fingers and watched it explode with a satisfying crack. He nodded and made some notes on his clipboard. "Everything normal? No change in the level of output?"

"My 'output' is fine."

"Then we're all done here. Mr. Bennet is waiting outside for you." She nodded in thanks, rubbing her wrists while the memory of Phil's claws tearing into them replayed in her mind.

"Why did you give me his blood?" she asked suddenly. She hadn't known for sure that Adam's blood had the ability to heal although she had heard rumors. She had never been given it before to speed her healing although she remembered having been hurt quite often when she was younger and healing slowly and painfully the old fashioned way. The doctor looked at her for a moment in that way that people at the company sometimes did – as if there was something she should know but didn't. She felt uneasy for a second, but only a second, before she forced herself to relax.

"Your father requested it."

She nodded and slid off the examination table and made her way out.

Noah was leaning against the wall next to the examination room and looked up when she came out. His eyes flicked over her, noting her whole, unblemished skin.

"Feeling better, are we?" he quipped sardonically. Gah, she could already hear the lecture starting.

She took a deep breath. "Look, Noah –"

He held up his hand to interrupt her. "You can tell me later. We have a problem, Elle. After I hauled you back here, we sent the cleanup team out to pick up Groban. He wasn't there."

"He survived?" Elle frowned in concern and leaned herself up on the wall opposite him. A wounded animal was always more dangerous.

"I don't think so. When they got there, the area had already been wiped clean. There was no trace of Phil – or you for that matter. The team spoke with some witnesses. There was a disturbance that night that I'm guessing had nothing to do with you."

"Ahh. Our mysterious competition?" she quirked her brow in interest.

"Seems like it. Did you see anything unusual tonight? "

She folded her arms and tapped her chin with one of her fingers. "No. But I was a little preoccupied with not becoming the bride of Wolfenstein. Just a little."

"Cute," he said dryly.

"Thanks. I try," she said breezily, a smile lighting up her face.

He tossed something at her that she caught without thinking. It was her cell.

"Get cleaned up and go home. I'll debrief Bob." Elle looked at him in surprise. Noah smiled at her wryly. "That husband of yours has been calling all night – I suggest you check your messages before you leave. Bob expects you back in early tomorrow but you're free for the rest of the night."

"Cool."

"When am I going to meet this husband of yours anyway?" Noah asked casually as they began walking down the sterile white hall.

"I'll bring him by soon."

"You've been saying that for three years."

"True. When am I going to meet little Claire-bear?"

"…point taken." She grinned at him before turning to go down a different hallway.

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"What did Karina and Cruz find?"

Bob Bishop steepled his fingers, his elbows resting on the impressive desk in his office. He looked at Noah over the tops of his glasses and considered his question before answering.

"Almost everything was wiped clean. Very efficient," he noted with a certain clinical admiration. Bob was a man who enjoyed efficiency. "But there were quite a few injuries – more than the normal frenzied trampling can account for. From what they were able to piece together, it seems like there were two unknown advanced humans there tonight. They were there at around the same time you were but they were able to get away with our target." Bob looked at Noah in clear displeasure. "I don't suppose you were able to see anything remotely useful tonight?"

Noah gritted his teeth and briefly thought about telling Bob he had been too busy saving his daughter from becoming 'the bride of Wolfenstein' before mentally going through all the faces he had seen that night. There hadn't been anything unusual besides his lucky break at the beginning of the night. He frowned when he recalled how he had gotten into the club so easily.

(Flashback)

Noah Bennet would never admit it to anyone, but he was worried. Elle Bishop was late and now it was up to him to find out why.

Unlike most agents at the company, Noah knew Elle took her assignments very seriously. He never understood why but she often said and did things to deliberately mislead people into underestimating her intelligence or dismissing her. He had fallen for the same act when he first started working with her when she turned eighteen. Bob Bishop had asked him to take his young daughter under his wing for a few months and train her as an agent. She had annoyed him during their first assignment together with her perky quips and the constant stream of jokes at his expense. He had been resentful of the fact that he was expected to babysit her during an important assignment merely because she was the boss's daughter and she wanted to play at being an agent. Regardless of how 'gifted' she was, it had been apparent to him that she was unsuitable as an agent. The mission was a surprising success however and he attributed it to dumb luck on her part. It hadn't been. A string of successful operations soon followed. Although her methods sometimes made no sense to him, he had to admit that she had a gift for improvisation that went well with his by the book way of doing things. A few times though, that same gift had gotten her into trouble.

He hoped this wasn't one of those times.

He had given up on her turning her communicator back on. He wasn't sure if it was because she was unable to. Just because he expected more out of her than most didn't mean she didn't enjoy turning his hair gray.

Noah checked to make sure the gun and taser he had were properly secured and hidden before checking out The Absolute. There were only two entrances and the side entrance was too exposed for him to force his way in. He gritted his teeth and walked to the crowded front entrance, frowning as he bypassed a line of scantily clad youths waiting to get in. Some of these people looked like they were Claire's age! He grimly marched up to a man holding a clipboard at the front entry.

The man raked his eyes up and down Noah's form and quirked an eyebrow. "You on the list?" he asked dubiously.

"No, but this is an emergency. You need to let me in," he told him in a serious and urgent tone.

"Like I've never heard that one before. Move it along old timer – you ain't getting in."

Noah narrowed his eyes on him.

"My underage daughter is in there," he lied. "I suggest you let me in to find her or I am calling the police." He gave the man what Elle liked to call 'The Glare of Death.'

Just as the bouncer was about to retort, two men stepped up next to him.

"Is there a problem here?" one of them inserted calmly. Noah looked at them. The one who had spoken was tall with dark hair and had an authoritative air to him. His companion stood behind him and had a bit of a mulish look on his face. They didn't appear to be bouncers. Their suits were certainly too nice for that.

"Unless you're on the list, you ain't getting in." The bouncer crossed his arms and glared at all three of them, daring them to try to get past him. The dark haired man was not fazed.

"Well, I recommend you make an exception for us. Raymond Weil, State Liquor Licensing and Compliance inspector. This is my partner Jon Crane. We've received several complaints that this club is in violation of underage drinking statutes and it looks like the allegations are true. I'm going to need to see the manager of this club." Noah stayed silent. This was too good to be true. All three of them looked at the bouncer expectantly and he grudgingly waved them in.

"Fine. You can go in."

"I suggest you find your daughter and leave as quickly as possible," Raymond advised him.

"I plan to." He nodded at them in gratitude and made his way inside the dark club.

Once safely inside, he turned on one of the special functions of his cell phone. The earring that Elle wore served as both a communicator and a locator. Even with it turned to silent, he should be able to find her. The large screen of his cell lit up with a miniature floor plan of the club and a tiny flashing dote indicated Elle's presence on the third floor. He swiftly made his way up.

(End Flashback)

"Well?" Bob prompted Noah slowly and sarcastically. "Did you notice anything we could use?" Noah snapped out of his recollection and flicked his eyes to Bob. He grinned a slow half smile.

"I have a lead."

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Elle was on the road and close to home before she remembered to check her cell. Flipping through the missed calls she frowned. Gabriel never usually left so many messages. She was about to dial her voicemail when she received a call from her father. She promptly snapped her cell open and held it up to her ear.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Agent Bennet told me you went in after the target yourself tonight." Elle sighed and rolled her eyes while expertly guiding her blue convertible along its dark route.

"Dad, it was no big deal –"

"Clearly, it was. You know better than to leave Bennet behind. I put him with you for a reason. Now, the target is gone and you were almost compromised." Elle tightened her hand on the steering wheel. She had almost been killed tonight. Was this all he had to say to her?

"Luckily, Bennet has a lead for us," he continued. "Can I assume you'll be fully prepared to help with the investigation tomorrow? I need you to be focused on this one, Elle."

Elle took a deep breath. "Of course, dad. I'm always –"

"Good. Eight sharp, tomorrow morning. And try not to be late." She heard a click and knew he was gone. She gritted her teeth and threw her cell back into the purse sitting on the seat next to her. Geez, this was the worst night!

A few minutes later her home came into sight. She sighed, thankful to be home as she pulled up to her classic white colonial style house. Parking in the driveway, she looked up for a moment at the beautiful residence in front of her. Gabriel had let her pick it out as a wedding present. She had known it was the perfect house for them the moment she laid eyes on it. It had been expensive and she had worried that he would think it was too much room for them, even though they could afford it. The day they had gone to see it, she had turned to him on the doorstep after their tour, her heart in her eyes, to tell him she loved it. But even though she had loved, in her heart she had already been prepared to let it go if he didn't think it was right for them. After all, she was used to not getting what she wanted. But he had only looked down at her, his smile as bright as her own and told her 'it's yours.' If she hadn't already loved him, that would have certainly cinched it. She had very much shown him her appreciation later that day.

It scared her sometimes to think about how much she loved him, how she would do anything to keep him. And it was a good thing he never asked her too much about her past. She hated lying to him.

Gabriel was an orphan and had a modest income but he had told her that his parents had left him well off when they died. She had told him almost the exact same story about having no parents (it was half true after all) and being well off because of it, knowing it was best that he stay as far away from Primatech and her father as possible and not wanting him to ask how a pastry chef could live so comfortably. She had somewhat expensive tastes.

Her father hadn't cared when she began dating Gabriel. Even when she had come to him nervous and full of fragile happiness one day to anxiously tell him Gabriel had proposed, he had never asked to meet him. He had only told her grimly that if she wanted to play house with some boy for awhile, he wasn't going to stop her but she should know that he was only going to break her heart in the end. Boys were unreliable. They lied and really, he had said, wasn't she lying to him as well? No one would ever be able to know the real her (like her daddy knew her). So, if she wanted to waste her time on something so transient, it was up to her. She had felt ill the entire time he spoke to her in his office. He had never once looked up from his desk during his speech and she had been shaking as she quietly left his office that day. But she had been determined. Gabriel had said he loved her and she wanted to believe him. She had known that she would never be able to tell him certain things about herself but that was alright, wasn't it? She was allowed to have some happiness, wasn't she?

Elle popped the car door open and made her way up the long steps to the front door, slamming it once she was in and throwing herself onto the thickly cushioned couch in the living room. She squirmed until the pillows were arranged just right and moaned in ergonomic bliss. Home at last! She was exhausted. She closed her eyes for a minute and ended up falling asleep.

She awoke to a gentle hand stroking her face and grabbed it in reflex. Blinking to clear her vision, she saw Gabriel kneeling close beside her, his intense gaze drinking in her features.

"Gabriel…I'm sorry I was late. Megan explained to you, didn't she?"

He nodded and laid his head on her stomach, his gaze never wavering from her face. The hand that she still held gently intertwined their fingers. She smoothed his hair way from his face with her free hand.

"Gabe, what's wrong?"

He was silent for a moment. "I thought you were hurt tonight."

Elle's breath froze in her chest and she forced herself to relax, hoping he hadn't felt any of her muscles stiffen. "Why would you think that?"

"I…just had a feeling." They looked at each other as Elle waited for her heartbeat to slow down. "Elle, I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."

She closed her eyes so he wouldn't see the guilt in them. She hadn't been thinking of him when she rushed into danger tonight. What if Bennet hadn't come after her? Her heart twisted in her chest.

"I love you, Gabe," she whispered.

"I love you, Elle."

"How much?"

"I'd do anything for you."

Elle opened her eyes and pulled him up for a kiss. It was full of love but also of a quiet but desperate relief neither of them was willing to voice.

Later that night in bed, with her head resting on Gabriel's chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart as he slept, Elle came to a decision. It was something that she had been thinking about doing for awhile now.

After this last investigation that her father seemed to think needed her special brand of skills, she was leaving the company for good. As long as she had Gabriel, she could be happy.

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AN: I wanted to delve a bit deeper into some of their histories this chapter. Hope you liked it. More action and suspicions arising next time!