Eliot couldn't sit still as he waited for the team. He sat at Nate's table, looking through the file, hunting for any little clue that the police could have missed. He paced the room, his mind working overtime. He sat down at the computer, wanting to start the research but not knowing where to begin, he wished he'd paid more attention when Hardison had tried to show him what he did, but he had no clue, so he paced again, then went back to the file and started the cycle all over again.

The image of the little girl, Cindy, was burnt into his brain. He shook his head as if trying to remove it; to erase it; to not let it morph into his own past.

'It's just another case,' he told himself, knowing deep down that there was no way this wouldn't get personal and just hoping he could keep it professional, at least in front of the team. Nate was pissed at him, he knew that. He'd never gotten involved in client meetings before, that was Nate's role and the mastermind was not pleased he'd jumped in and accepted this case. It wasn't their regular kind of case, they shouldn't be on it, but if the team wouldn't help, he'd do it himself. After all, that was his job.

He wished the team would hurry up and arrive so they could get started.

Nate sat quietly in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee, desperately wishing it was Irish. He'd used alcohol for so long to numb the pain, to try to forget. He'd shied away from cases involving kids since getting sober. Anything that would remind him of his son, of his own past, anything that might get personal was discarded, but thanks to Eliot, he didn't have that luxury anymore. This was going to be a hard one, as much as he knew they probably couldn't do anything, the more he looked at the pictures in the file, the more he wanted to find that kid.

But more than anything he wanted to understand his friend and colleague; why was Eliot so insistent on taking this case? And where was his normally calm, cool, collected exterior? There was something there, something personal for Eliot as well. Nate just hoped they could both put it aside and stay focused on the case.

He didn't have time to dwell on the thought as his apartment door swung open and an exasperated Sophie appeared, talking to a confused Parker.

"Because the shoes are amazing Parker,"

"But you can't run in them, you can't sneak in them, I couldn't climb through an air vent in them or jump off a building in them, so why are they amazing?"

"Because they're pretty!" Sophie replied with a frustrated sigh before turning to Eliot, "Can you please explain?"

"Why would I know about shoes?" He queried.

"Well, better you than Nate!" she replied with a smile in his direction.

"Where's Hardison?" Eliot asked, ignoring Sophie's comment and subsequent puzzled look.

"Right here," the hacker said, strolling in behind the still confused Parker who was still looking quizzically at Sophie's shoes.

"Took your time didn't you?" The hitter growled in the hacker's direction.

"Okay sparky," Hardison replied with a nervous giggle, "no more super happy power go for you."

Eliot's entire body twitched as he continued to stare and almost growl at Hardison. He wanted to hit out, to yell, to make everyone understand what was at stake, but he knew better. They didn't know his past; they didn't know about Lexie and what they'd been through. He had to make sure they'd never know, he had to find enough control to stop himself showing how personal this case was going to be. He'd been running and hiding for over twenty years. He couldn't risk anyone, even his colleagues figuring out the truth.

"Alright, settle down guys, c'mon," Nate interjected, turning the attention away from the hitter to the file on the coffee table as everyone took a seat.

"We don't have much," he began, his gaze falling on Eliot, "I'm not even sure this is something we can or should be getting involved in,"

Eliot looked away from Nate's gaze, knowing he'd jumped in and given the family hope where Nate saw none, but they had to try.

"Cindy Stevens, six-years-old, reported missing from her family home just over three months ago." Nate started, passing the photo around the team,

"Nice house," Hardison interrupted with a laugh as he checked out the pictures of the spacious and falling apart farmhouse the family called home. "We sure she isn't hiding out in the some secret room?" He laughed.

"We're sure," Nate added, "an amber alert went up within an hour of the report but the family can't say when she actually went missing. It was reported at 10am on the Sunday morning, but they hadn't seen her since 6pm on the Saturday night when she was sent to bed."

"How can you not check on a child for 16hours?" Sophie interjected,

"Mrs. Stevens was admitted to the emergency room at the local hospital at 7.30pm on the Saturday with cuts, bruises, a broken rib and possible concussion, the dad apparently stayed at home with the kid."

"How'd she get hurt?" Sophie enquired.

"Official story is she fell," Nate answered, "but basic body language, she was terrified of her husband."

"Do we think he did something to the kid?" Hardison added.

"No," Eliot replied quietly, all eyes turning in surprise to the hitter as he stared at the table and continued, "he was probably passed out drunk, only way she escaped long enough to get some help, plus his body language wasn't defensive, he wasn't hiding something, he wasn't worried we'd find out anything, he doesn't know what happened."

"We'll look into the father," Nate added, a wary eye on Eliot, making a mental note to have a chat with him before sending them out on this one. "Police report says there were signs of a struggle in the little girl's room and the father had blood on his shoes but a DNA test was apparently inconclusive."

"Several different samples including his, the wife's and the kid's," Hardison stated, checking the results in the file, "but there were some really old stains so they couldn't place a timescale on how old the kid's blood was."

"They aren't using the blood as official evidence," Nate continued, "but they've interviewed the father four times, so I suspect they still think he killed her and that's why they aren't chasing this as hard as they would normally for a kidnapping. Officially, the local cops are saying she probably ran away."

"Based on what?" Hardison asked incredulously.

"Based on social services reports of abuse at home and the only thing missing was a teddy bear. Officially, police are saying she was probably scared when the fight broke out at home, saw her mom getting beat up, thought she was next and tried to run. That was the last update the parents got and that was nearly three weeks ago. Since then, all they get is a deputy who says the investigation is still ongoing."

"Do they have any reasoning on how a six-year-old would cope in the world on her own? Someone must be looking out for her or has already killed her." Sophie asked.

"Nothing in the official reports, but I guess when we ask them, they'll say she's either been taken in by some neighbors or other locals who are trying to protect her from her father or they'll stick to the-father-killed-her theory."

"I have a question," Parker interjected, raising her hand in that schoolgirl way she did. "Why are we looking at this? It's not our kinda case right? No bad guy we can identify and take down, no payday?"

"As much as I hate to agree, Nate, Parker's right on this one," Sophie said reluctantly. "What can we do that the police haven't done?"

"I don't know," Nate conceded, throwing a glance at Eliot who was still finding the coffee table very interesting, "but let's see what we can turn up. Hardison, get on the net, any similar cases in the area, go back as far as you can. If this was a kidnapping maybe it's happened before. If you turn anything up, we'll go in as FBI, start asking questions."

"I'll check out the local bars, see if the police missed any witnesses." Eliot added, getting up, ready to go to work.

"Not yet Eliot, just hang back for now." Nate replied.

Eliot's hands curled into fists, Nate knew the man well enough to know that he was fighting to remain in control; the struggle was evident when he spoke again.

"Why? She's out there Nate, we gotta find her."

"Let's see what we can turn up before we go in guns blazing okay."

"Not okay," he replied, his voice rising to match his exploding temper, "I'm going now!" He turned to leave once more and Nate knew better than to stop him.

"Fine," Nate gave in, his chat with Eliot was going to have to wait a little while longer, "it's a couple of hours drive away, everyone go pack a bag, and we'll meet back here in half an hour. Hardison," he turned to the already hard at work hacker, "book us a hotel will you."

"Already on it," he replied, not looking up from the screen. "We're booked into a hotel just outside town, only one around there with wireless, oh god help me, I'm gonna hate this place!"

"Fine, let's get moving." Nate replied

Eliot, Sophie and Parker all moved for the door, going home to grab their travel bags. Nate headed upstairs to do the same, but turned back when Hardison didn't move.

"Erm...Hardison,"

"Yeah,"

"You need to go pack you know,"

"No, it's cool, just bring the black bag in the back of your closet, I'm all set." He replied without looking up.

Nate could do little but chuckle; of course Hardison had clothes here that Nate knew nothing about, just another day in the life of the Leverage team.