A/N Thank you everyone for all your lovely reviews. I'm glad you like this story. Technically this is the last chapter, but I'm planning to post an epilogue or today or tomorrow, so wait for it! :)

As soon as they reached the inside of the van, Nate fainted. They couldn't take him back to Boston, so they rushed to the nearest hospital and had Hardison work on fake IDs and story.

Two days later Nate was still lying on the hospital bed. "I need to work something out" he told Sophie frustrated trying to get out of bed

"No, you need to rest and take care of your injuries!" she pushed him back down

"He killed my father!" Nate shouted.

"I know" she sighed in resignation "I know. But right now I'm thinking about my children's father"

He hated her for using the babies card. She knew that he would do anything for them. "One more day" he finally told her. "One day and then I'm out of here!"

"Where exactly do you want to go? Latimer has our apartment under surveillance. We can't go near the bar, our apartments, his office, his house. The guys had just enough time to gather all our things and put them safe in a warehouse"

"Rentol Federal Penitentiary"

"You want to go and see Dubenich. Why?"

"He needs to know that I'm going after him. He needs to feel scared."

"The guy is already in prison, what more can you do to him?"

Nate looked at her with dark eyes and for moment she was scared that the Nathan Ford she knew had died with his father in that warehouse.

She slowly nodded. "Okay, in two days I will drive you there personally. But for now, you need to rest."

As promise, two day later Nathan Ford was waiting for Dubenich to come from his cell into the visitors area. When he saw him walking over to him, his smug grin made him angrier. Victor Dubenich needed to pay and he now it was time for Nathan Ford to work out a revenge plan.

"Hey," he clumsy man sat down. "A penny for your thoughts?"

"You've missed"

"I came close, though" he smirked. "So, how long has it been. Three years, five months and four days. How is it going? I heard you had a heart attack recently. You really should have stayed in bed to rest"

"You are going to regret this."

"Well, Nate. All what a man has, it's three things; his business, his possessions and his name. You take all that away… any man would kill"

Nate got closer to the glass separating them.

"Oh, you don't scare me Nate. I'm scared of you. But aren't you a little bit scared of me. After all, I know all of your secrets" He smiled. "How is Miss Devereaux? And by the way, congratulations on the babies"

This infuriated Nate, he wished he could just reach out and punch the guy.

"You stay away from them." He hissed angrily.

"Oh, I see I've hit a nerve!"

"What's all this about?"

"Well, Nate. It's about consequences. You can't walk this Earth playing judge and jury with people's life and not suffer consequences."

"You brought this to yourself. You've tried to kill me and my team"

"Your team? They are my team. I've put them together and then I handled them to you and I bet I know them better than you"

"You're wrong! Because they are not only my team, they are my family. And I'm going to let you hurt my family."

"We'll see about that. For three years I've been preparing for this day."

"Well, you'll have to do better."

"Better that killing your father. Wow, though room"

Nate couldn't take it anymore. "Do you remember when I said to you the next time we would meet I wouldn't be so nice"

"Yes?"

"Okay, welcome to the next time!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"There is no way I'm leaving you all behind" Sophie said firmly.

Nate paced up and down in the hotel room they were staying in. They've managed to get the all penthouse floor. "He know about you and the babies. He threatened you!"

"Nate, I'm not leaving you behind. End of discussion"

He sighed frustrated. "Okay, but you're not getting out of this room. I need you to stay away from the action."

"Okay." They finally agreed.

"I really can't convince you to go to Paris with Tara" he tried one last time this time going for a more gentle approach.

"Nate" she replied sternly.

"Okay," he brushed some hair out of her face. "Okay" and he gave one lingering kiss.

The heard one knock at the door, soon followed by someone entering.

"Parker!" Sophie groaned in frustration.

"What? I've knocked" she shrugged sitting on the bed.

"You're supposed to wait for someone to tell you it's okay to come in" Sophie explained.

"I don't get it"

"So boss," Hardison sat next to Parker. "What's the plan?"

Eliot, Tara and Maggie were there too.

"The main objective is this" he moved to the screen. "Bellington Dam. That's the weak point. Latimer has all control of the pipelines, water rights, dams. We take that away from him and then all the rest."

"Yeah, but we can't pull a con on him. He knows us" Eliot pointed out.

"We need back up"

"Hey" Tara put her hands up. "I'm blown too. I'm on the list too after we've bugged his office"

"No, Tara. I need you to stay with Sophie"

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"It's more like a bodyguard. As for the rest of you, you find someone who we don't trust, who is not our friend, who is not in the game"

They all understood who he meant.

"Oh, no" Hardison shook his head. "There is no way I'm going to work with him"

"Hardison, please. Just for this job. We need him" That had been the key word "please" Nate never uses it.

They took them at least a day to find and bring their back up. The room was overly full with Quinn, Eliot's back up; Chaos, Hardison's old nemesis and Archie Leach, Parker's mentor.

"So have you all understood the plan?" Nate had just finished exposing to them his complicated plan to take down Latimer. He actually had to thank Dubenich for giving him the idea.

"I'm sorry that you have to get involved too, Maggie, but we need a grifter."

"It's no problem Nate, I'm happy to help."

"I don't want surprises. One thing must be clear, though. No one, and I mean no one touches Victor Dubenich. He is mine" Said that, Nate left the room and went to balcony.

Everybody else looked worried. That was not the Nathan Ford they knew. After a moment, Sophie got up and followed him. Nate was loading a gun with bullets.

"Your father's gun"

Nate ignored her.

"I don't have a lot of rules in this world," Sophie continued. "three actually. Don't count the money until after the con, no enter and walk away from a con…"

"The Gambler?" Nate interrupter her with a small smile. "You're basing your life philosophy on a Kenny Rogers's song?"

She glared at him " and don't get involved with a murderer"

Nate looked down nearly ashamed.

"Please, don't do this. He's not worth it."

"He killed my father!"

"He's not worth you ending up in prison and not seeing our children grow."

"I might not get arrested"

"Yes, but the guilt will eat you out one day at the time and you will no longer be the same man I fell in love with."

Nate sighed and put his head down. "I don't know what to do. I'm so angry. He can't get away with what he has done."

"And he won't" Sophie kneeled in front of him and took his face in her hands. "But killing him in cold blood won't bring your father back"

Nate looked down and the gun and put the safe it on. "Here" he handled it to her. "You take it. I might be tempted to use it the next time I see his smug face"

She slowly took the gun away from him. "Thank you" she whispered.

"You're right, he is not worth it. I don't think I could live seeing the disgust and disappointment in your eyes."

"No matter what we'll get through this, together" she leaned her forehead against his.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The job went according to plan. First they took down the dams with the clams, then they stole all his valuables, and then, thanks to Maggie, they drugged and sent Latimer to the Caymans and he was now wanted for conspiracy for the trades he had made against the companies they took down.

All Latimer's money had been transferred to their accounts. Nate and the others were celebrating their success while entering their suit.

"Hey, Sophie!" Nate called out.

He started panicking when he saw Tara lying down unconscious. He kneeled next to her to check for a pulse. "She's alive!"

Eliot was in full alert mode, he checked all the rooms in case the intruders where still there. "All clear!"

"Help me with Tara"

They both picked up the grifter and laid her on the couch. "Tara!" he called her "Tara, wake up"

Tara moaned and tried to her eyes. She had nasty cut on her forehead and she had received quite a blow on the back of her neck. "Sophie." she groaned. "They took Sophie"

"Who?" Nate was desperate.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before losing consciousness again.

"She's out Nate!" Eliot confirmed "She needs to go to a hospital."

Suddenly Nate's phone rang and quickly answered.

"Nate" it was Victor Dubenich's voice. "Are you missing someone?"

"If you hurt her…" Nate was now furious.

"Nothing will happen to your little grifters and the babies if you do as I say."

"What do you want?"

"You. This has always been about you. Meet me at the Bellington's Dam. Don't be late" he told him with a playful singing voice.

Nate started furiously looking through the drawers until he found what he was looking for; his father's gun.

"You take Tara to a hospital, I'll take care of this."

"No, Nate" Eliot stopped him. "This involves us too. We are a family. I'm not going to let you go alone."

"It's me he wants!"

"We either have each other's backs or we don't" Parker told him

"You can't go there without a plan" the hitter shouted.

"You're the retrieval specialist. Get Sophie. I'll distract Dubenich."

"You're going to get yourself killed, man" Hardison shook his head.

"Sophie is the priority!"

They arrived at the dam in separate cars. Nate was the first to go in. He knew where he would find the man.

"If you're looking for the patent, it's not there" Nate told him behind him.

Dubenich turned around quickly. "Get him" he ordered the thugs that were with him.

Nate started running hearing the gunshots behind him. He couldn't run very fast, his body was still weak.

In the other part of the building Eliot, Parker and Hardison were making their way to where they were keeping Sophie. With the last of the three thugs down, they got Sophie free who had been handcuffed to one of the pipes.

"Where is Nate?" she asked rubbing her sore wrists.

They heard they gunshots being fired.

"Let's go!" they started running towards them.

Nate kept slowly running on the metal platform. He felt a sharp pain on the back of his left shoulder. He stumbled and saw Dubenich pointing a gun at him. He slowly made his way on top of a rock that led to the waterfalls.

"You can't run Nate!" Dubenich had him at gun point.

He slowly turned around with his hand up. "How is all this working out for you Victor?"

"Okay, thanks. Oh, you mean there's no patent, no water filter. Thanks for your concern, but all I wanted was you. Now you can gloat me to death." He raised his gun ready to shoot.

"You know, the thing about you is that when you're angry you forget about the little details."

"No, I'm good" he pressed the trigger. But the gun didn't fire.

"Like counting bullets" Nate finished. He pulled out his gun from the waist band of his trousers. "This one, though, my father's gun, has five bullets. I'm quite certain of it."

"If you kill me who's going to save your girlfriend."

"My team has already taken care of that"

Dubenich lowered his head defeated. "I don't think you're going to do it" he then looked him straight in his eyes. "You're not a killer, Nate"

"No, I'm not, but it's people like you that can change a man."

"You didn't even kill the man who didn't save your own son."

"Like I've said, I'm a changed man" he pointed the gun at him ready to shoot. But something stopped him. He felt a pair of familiar eyes behind him. He turned around and saw Sophie and the rest of the team watching him from a platform. The message in her eyes was clear, even the subtle hand resting on her womb. He started to lower the gun. Seeing his hesitation Dubenich jumped on top of him, going for the gun.

"Nate" Sophie shouted.

The two men fought rolling on the ground trying to get control of the gun. They were getting closer to the edge of the cliff. With one last roll, Dubenich fell down and landed 30 meters below. Nate was out of breath and he was panting in pain. Because of the force of the water, he couldn't see the man's body below. With the last bit of his strength, he got up and threw the gun down the cliff.

The others were making their way to him. Sophie ran to hug him. Nate moaned in pain at the impact.

"Sorry, Sorry" she whispered lightly touching the gunshot wound.

"Are you okay?" he asked running his hands down her cheeks.

"I'm fine. It's you who needs to be checked. Come on"

She led him to some rocks and they sat down. Sensing that the couple needed some privacy; Eliot, Hardison and Parker walked away admiring the beautiful landscape around them.

"Let me see" Sophie started unbuttoning his shirt to examine the wound. It's a through and through. It needs stiches, but for now I only have this." She put a hankie chief on the bleeding wound.

"I'm glad you're okay" he told. "If anything had happen to you…"

"Shh, It's okay. I'm here" she palmed his cheek. "I'm glad you didn't pull the trigger."

"For a moment I thought about it, but then I've realized I'm not father. I can't live like him, I could lose everything I have and you and the babies are the most important things for me." He paused. "I've got to make some changes"

"What kind of changes?" she was curious but at the same time scared.

"I've got plans"

"Oh, and that never goes wrong." She teased him.

He laughed. "Very big plans"

"Such as?"

He leaned down to kiss her passionately. She ran her hands through his hair at the base of his neck. All their emotions, all their needs were wrapped up in that kiss.

"Marry me?" he whispered to her once their lips separated.

"What?" she asked surprised.

"I want to marry you, the mother of my children, the woman I love"

"Yes" she finally answered smiling.

"Okay." He smiled and stole one more kiss.