Nate silently cursed himself for falling for her grifter charms. Now he was in a mess that was never going to be resolved.
"Guys," he said, "I lost Charlotte."
The response received was oddly expected.
"What do you mean you lost Charlotte?" Hardison growled, in a voice that sounded oddly like the hitter. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You just let lose the other half of the worst duo in history! She's going to find her husband at the 'kid' and tell him our plan."
"Yep," Parker agreed, "We're screwed. They're going to torture us… Ooh, I wonder if they'll slowly pluck our eyes out. That could be fun."
"What's wrong with you?" Eliot replied, throwing his signature phrase into the mix with no idea what it means to mastermind listening in. "We're all doomed and you're planning heists with no eyes. Do you even hear yourself when you speak?"
And, of course, the hacker felt the need to come to the thief's defense.
"Hey man, chill," the hacker moaned, "She's just trying to find the positives in this situation. Sure, it's creepy and a little less awesome than I would like but at least we'll only be blind. I don't need my eyes to hack."
"They're not going to pluck out our eyes, Hardison," Eliot hissed, "At least not until after they've broken every ligament in our body."
Parker and Hardison both cooed the same word. Only the thief used it in excitement and curiosity while the hacker was far less enthused. Honestly, the more they hung out together as a team the more they actually started acting like a team. They were stepping in time to a march they had never heard before. It made the mastermind smile, until he remembered that he was missing a very crucial voice, the grifter's voice of reason.
"I'm going to find Charlotte," Nate explained.
He ignored the quiet chatter in his ears by taking the com out completely. If he found the grifter, he wanted to have the privacy to do it properly. He was going to tell her everything. He was going to explain why he was so interested in saving her and what kind of person was lying underneath the surface of her soul. He was going to use the truth to bring her back. He knew it would work. Then he ran into a goon with a gun.
Nate silently cursed his luck. He also cursed the grifter for leaving him on his own yet again instead of staying by his side where she belonged. The goon managed to point the gun at him before he fell to the ground, slamming into it quite comically. Reuel was standing over him with a bright smile on his face.
"Congratulations," he said, "He didn't kill you. Now let's get you to that hacker of yours."
"No," Nate growled, "You tell me how I'm going to kill him."
"You're going to kill him?" Reuel asked in a very unconvincing voice, "Why would you kill him? He's like a son to you?"
"You said…" Nate began.
"And you believed that?" Reuel huffed, "No, I didn't. You've been hearing things. Okay, let's go."
"Fine," the mastermind huffed dramatically, "You won't tell me about Hardison. That's fine. Where's Charlotte?"
"Charlotte?" Reuel asked. There was a look of guilt suddenly on his features and he was looking for an exit pretty quickly. That was not an encouraging sign. "Why do you think I know where Charlotte is?"
"Because you're an angel of the Lord," Nate suggested boldly.
"Just because I'm an angel of the Lord does not mean that I-" Reuel replied.
"Then how do you know where I am every time you appear?" Nate asked.
"Damn," Reuel cursed, "I forgot I showed you that already."
Nate's expression grew dark at the stalling game. He moved into the angel's personal space and glared daggers into his eyes. He grabbed him by the arms and shook him roughly. Then he put himself nose to nose with the guy and growled.
"Where is she?" He asked.
"With her son," the angel replied, "Where she belongs. She's taking him to her husband and they are going to run away from you. You will never see them again."
"No," Nate shook his head, "She chose her son over her husband. She's not taking Sam to him. She won't."
"Why do you have such faith in her?" Reuel asked, "She's not the woman you're in love with."
"Where are they?" Nate demanded loudly.
"On their way to the side she's chosen," the angel explained. Then he started to fade away with the wind.
"Wait," Nate called grabbing the angel's shirt as he spoke, "Why were you trying to get me to leave? Who sent you?"
"I told you," Reuel winked, "I was sent by Sam to teach you a lesson you needed to learn."
Then Reuel's expression turned crushingly dark. An evil smile appeared upon his lips and his eyes twinkled with a red glint.
"A lesson you are about to learn," he said.
Then he was gone, out of the mastermind's hands as if he had never been there to begin with. Nate cursed the angel and torture he was going through. Then he grabbed the earbud in his pocket and placed it back into his ear. It exploded.
"Nate," Hardison growled, "It's about time you decided to put your com back in. Where did you go? You were in my sights and then you were and now you are again. How did you do that?"
Nate cursed again. This time it was just out loud.
"Don't yell at Hardison," Parker said, "you're the one who disappeared so Eliot and I had to look all over for you. Hardison went through the trouble of searching for you, Moreau, his wife and their son."
"I found Moreau by the way," Hardison cheered, "and Charlotte's tracker is working again. She's not that far away if this is right. She's only down the next hall and around the corner."
"If it's right?" Eliot questioned, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"She's not moving," Hardison explained, "I can't tell if she's alive or if she found the bug and planted it there. There's no guarantee that she's standing there."
"Can't you tell on one of those cameras?" The hitter demanded, sounding more annoyed than genuinely angry. He was starting to get frustrated if the mastermind had to wager a guess.
"That's the only corner in the building that does not have a camera," Hardison replied, "I've tried everything to see into it. I'm sorry, Nate. She got away."
"No," the mastermind replied, shaking his head despite the fact that nobody could see him. "No, that's exactly where she is. It's the only blind-spot in the building. It's the perfect spot for her to go to betray her husband."
"Or meet with him," the hitter added.
The mastermind couldn't help but agree with the man's assessment. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out. He was going to have to go over and investigate.
"How many men are around this corner, Hardison?" He asked.
"None so far but I hope you're not suggesting what I know you're suggesting," the hacker replied, clicking all the while.
"Nate," Eliot called, "I'll be there in ten minutes."
"No," Nate replied, "I want you to stop Moreau before he gets away. If we don't get Moreau than everything else was useless."
"Would you like me to assist him in his apprehension of Moreau?" The thief asked. She sounded like she was slinking in the air ducts above. It was a comforting sound as it blended perfectly with the hitter's brawling.
"Yes, Parker," Nate grinned, "Assist him to your heart's content, but I want Moreau alive."
"So you can avenge Sophie Devereaux?" Parker asked.
Nate balked.
"How did you know about Sophie?" He asked. He knew the hitter would never reveal his secret.
"Hardison overheard your conversation," she explained.
"No, I did not," Hardison explained guiltily as always, "I would never listen in on one of your conversations, Nate. She did it! I was just the poor, innocent bystander she decided to tell your secret to! I did nothing wrong. It was all her, I swear!"
"That was supposed to be a private conversation between me and Nate!" The hitter growled, "What's wrong with you?"
Then there was a sound coming from his com that sounded as though he was punched in the face. The glorious sounds of more punching and kicking enveloped his end of the line. Apparently, he was busy with other priorities at the moment.
"Leave Moreau alive," Nate growled, "He's mine for whatever reason I want. Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to find his wife and son before he does."
And just like the mastermind removed his earbud and began his march. He met a couple of guards with guns, knocked them out and carried on as if nothing had happened. He smiled at his handy work and proceeded down the hall without further incident. Nate turned the corner and ended up facing the barrel of a gun.
A/N: Oh look, a cliff-hanger. We're getting close to the end folks. Hold tight!