A/N: Hi!... Here's the next chapter... Hope you like it... not a lot of reviews for the last chapter... So I don't know whether I am on the right track...

Thanks to Jesco123, who did review the last chapter and left an awesome comment... You made my day! :)

About this chapter, I would like to clarify that I have nothing against Russians, they are very nice people... I needed a convincingly awesome bad guy and Mikhail Ivanevich was born. I just picked his nationality as Russian cuz Eliot seems to have spent a lot of time over there and has a lot of history and back stories featuring the Eastern Bloc as shown in the series... Misha's all mine and whatever he's doing is all on me... If you're named Mikhail Ivanevich, sorry... didn't mean to give your name to a mobster... don't take it personally.

Oh and I could be wrong... but I think 'koschka' means kitty in Russian... If somebody could clarify on that it would be great...

Disclaimer : I don't own anything related to the Leverage franchise... I do own Mikhail Ivanevich in this plot though

Chapter 05

"Uh... Eliot I hate to rush you here but I think we're about to have some company... It seems like some bad ass Russian guy... really tall and has a... a scar the shape of a 'C' on his face... left side... dude just came up to the office where Parker is holed up... I am trying to get him on facial recognition but it's gonna take a minute or two..."

Eliot, who'd been trying his best to shuck his way out of the confining harness as fast as possible, stopped cold at the mention of the Russian. A slight shudder passed through the hitter as he closed his eyes tight, trying to get his breathing under control as he fought to stop his mind from replaying his past encounters with the Russian mobster standing five floors below him...

The last time Eliot had met Mikhail Ivanevich had been in Chechnya four years ago and that had been the time he'd given Mikhail the scar... But the scars the Russian and his henchmen had left on Eliot in return were far more numerous and life threatening. Eliot had escaped the Russian mobster by the skin of his teeth, managing to kill a bunch of his men before escaping in the ensuing melee... Eliot had been successful in retrieving the Blue Monkey from them, the world's largest star sapphire and the target he'd been sent after, but he'd been out of commission for about four months after that encounter, trying to get his broken body back in working shape.

The Russian and his henchmen were as ruthless as they came... And if they were here at Carter, it meant that the guy who was after them didn't just want them out of his way, he wanted them destroyed... slowly and painfully.

"Don't bother... It's Mikhail Ivanevich... or Misha as he's called. I... I know 'im"

Eliot didn't miss the two sharp breaths he heard over the comms at that name... One was the mastermind and the other, Parker... They were the only two who knew of his history with the Russian mob... And now, he was even more focused on getting Parker out of there before she got caught by the utterly ruthless Mikhail.

"You don't think there's any chance he's forgotten you Eliot?..."

The comment, though dry and capable of being taken as some sort of twisted attempt at humor, was full of concern for the hitter... that much he knew about the mastermind. Nate had been the man who'd helped Eliot for three of the four months he'd been in therapy...

"Nate... I hate to say something that you already know by now... There's nothing we can do about Mikhail right now... I have to go in and get Parker... But the guy who's doin all this... He knows us man... He knows almost everything about each and everyone of us... And this is a well thought out trap that's been sprung to catch all of us at the same time..."

He took a deep breath before continuing

"I would suggest that you cut and run... right now... See if you can save yourselves from whatever is planned for you. They knew that I would go in if they got Parker... They've got Ivanevich lined up for me... They've probably already hacked into whatever Hardison is doin'... Nate... you should get Sophie and Hardison and get out of here as soon as you can... I'll go after Parker and... we'll see... If all of us are still there after this, we'll meet up again..."

"E-Eliot..."

"Parker..."

"Shut up Eliot... and listen to me... You're always too stubborn for your own good... But I am not allowing you to get yourself beaten up for me today you hear that?... You have to leave now... Go with Nate and Sophie... and Hardison... I...I'll find a way to get out of here... Don't come here Eliot... Please..."

Parker, who showed almost no emotion most of the time, preferring to keep her mask of indifference on, sounded like she was a second away from crying

"Parker... honey... you know there's no way that's happenin' darlin'... I am not leaving you... whatever happens I am not gonna leave you here with these goons to fend for yourself... I am the guy that protects the team... The guy that protects you. Okay?..."

The hitter's voice softened a lot on the next sentence as he coaxed the thief

"Remember what I told you the other day?... I am not goin' anywhere darlin'... Not even if you yourself push me away... you're stuck with me... whether you like it or not babe... Now jus' do what you do best... Get whatever you can against these guys and sit tight. I'll come an' get ya in a minute... k?"

"No Eliot... no... You can't do this... I don't want you to get hurt anymore because of me... I... I know what Ivanevich did to you the last time and I don't think I can stand it if something like that happens to you again... Please Eliot... listen to me... Please... If you have any feelings for me like you say you do... you'll stay away Eliot..."

Even as she said it, Parker knew that there was no way Eliot would leave her to the mercy of the Russian mob... She didn't know whether to be happy that he would rescue her or to be scared for what he would have to go through before he could rescue her. She was almost beating herself up over the fact that all this could've been avoided if only she'd trusted Eliot's and her instincts or at least been more careful about her entry.

The desperation he heard in Parker's voice almost made Eliot want to punch something... or someone. He'd never heard his thief sound so scared, so desperate and so unsure of everything. That made him sure... Sure that there was no way his thief was gonna get hurt today. He wouldn't let Ivanevich or anybody else lay a finger on Parker. He was the protector of this team and he would keep his Parker safe till there was a breath left in his body.

"Nate... I'm goin' in... I won't be able to stay in contact with you after you go out of the comm's range... So..."

The ex-insurance agent turned mastermind cut in as incisively as ever

"Eliot... of all the people you should know... We are a team now... more than a team in fact... There's no way we're leaving any one behind. No way we're going to go anywhere until you and Parker are safe. Whatever they have planned for us, it will be easier for us to deal with if all of us are together. So we're not going anywhere... Deal with it... and just focus on getting our thief and getting out of there. Got it?... We'll be around... keep in touch"

"Got it Nate... Thanks man..."

Jumping down four steps at a time, Eliot made his way down to the 36th floor quickly, taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevators. Quickly, he was on the corridor leading to the offices of Pierce Carter, where Parker was supposed to be. But as the offices came into view, Eliot stumbled to a stop.

There was no one there. Not a single soul visible, no thugs, no Ivanevich and most importantly, no Parker. The office looked pristine, as if no one had tried to break in... or out for that matter.

"Yo man E... Watcha doin' man?... Badass here is getting ready to blow the door down... Where are you?"

That stopped the hitter cold for a minute.

"Hardison... can you check the elevators again and tell me where the one Parker took is?"

"El... Why you askin' that?..."

"Jus' tell me dammit..."

The snap in the hitter's voice got through to the hacker in the van sooner than the demand itself...

"I took the stairs... And I am at the 36th floor... Right in front of the office of Pierce Carter... and there's no one here guys... Hardison... where is she?"

"Wha..?... Hold on a second... I am just checking all security camera footage right now... I... I don't get it... I can't see you but I see the floor where the scary dude is gonna break in into the office room... but I don't see you man and I can't see Parker cuz she's inside the office and they don't have cams there..."

"Shit... Hardison I need you to check the elevators... where is the one Parker took?"

"Ye...Yeah... one second..."

The hacker's voice stopped abruptly as he discovered that the backdoor he'd used to gain access to the security system inside the Carter building had disappeared. There was no way to get into the cameras, the security blue prints or the building data now that his in into the system was gone. Never had the hacker been back-hacked before and this experience was more frightening than he'd expected. The fact that two of his team mates were inside that building now, depending on his help in figuring out the situation didn't help alleviate the fear or the tension.

"What is goin' on Hardison?"

"Th... I..."

"Dammit Hardison jus' tell me where she is..."

Eliot hadn't even finished speaking when the whole team heard the sounds of a door clicking open and footsteps progressing into a room through their comms. But that wasn't what caught their attention. What caught... and held their attention, was the extremely familiar female voice over the comm system.

The team, heard a flurry of movements, sounds of somebody hitting someone else, there were all the sounds associated with a fight. Had it been any other situation, he might've smiled proudly at the prowess his girlfriend and student was showing as it sounded to Eliot as if Parker was holding her own, delivering blow after blow and taking men down as they came at her. Suddenly, the balance of the fight changed as someone new and extremely experienced entered the fray and the team almost flinched as one, as they heard one soft grunt of pain after another from the blonde thief.

"Where are you trying to go little koschka?... You are going to stay with me... and we wait for your dashing hero to come and rescue you... I am waiting for you Spencer... Come and find me..."

That single sentence delivered in heavily accented english managed to do what not a lot of people had done before. It sent a chill down Eliot Spencer's spine. Not because he was afraid... Eliot Spencer, hitter extraordinaire, the born protector never ever got afraid... But he knew that this time he couldn't go in his usual way, busting heads till he found Misha... He had to play it the mobster's way because they had the one thing that would make him rethink his strategy... they had his thief... Mikhail Ivanevich was after him and he had Parker.

A/N: Ow... I know some of you want to hit me right now for putting our thief and hitter in such a bad position... Relax... like I said... I am a nice girl and I believe in the superpowers that Parker is convinced Eliot Spencer has... So all will end well... with a few twists and turns along the way... So stay tuned for more action.

Review your thoughts people... I need to know if I am goin in the right direction with this...

lotsa luv and fortune cookies

Macybear