Last chapter! Enjoy! J

Avery and Eliot

"All right, check your mirrors, steering wheel, seat. Make sure everything is where it needs to be," Eliot instructs as he looks over at his daughter. Avery does all of this, not without complaining though.

"I still don't see why I can't drive the Challenger," she whines with a scowl on her face.

"Because if we're gonna end up in the ditch, I'd rather be in this thing," Eliot replies as he gestures towards his Chevy Silverado.

"We're not gonna end up in a ditch," Avery argues, rolling her eyes and looking over at her father aiming a scowl at him. Eliot returns it with an eye roll and a huff before looking back out the windshield.

"All right," Eliot continues, ignoring Avery's glare he feel coming from her, "Check behind you. If no cars are coming, ease out onto the road."

Avery checks behind her and, not seeing anyone coming down the street, pushes on the gas. The truck lurches forward and onto the road. Eliot grabs onto the dash and Avery grimaces at the sudden increase in speed.

"Stop! I said ease…" Eliot begins only to spring forward when Avery slams on the brakes in her haste. "What are you doing? I said ease onto the road."

"I did ease onto the road. It ain't my fault your gas pedal is touchy," Avery counters, glaring over at Eliot and gripping the steering wheel.

"And the brakes?" Eliot growls, a scowl on his face and fixing Avery with a pointing look, an eyebrow raising.

"You yelled stop!" Avery argues, throwing her hands into the air and letting out a huff before slouching in the seat and crossing her arms.

"Yeah, 'cause I didn't want to be in a head on collision," Eliot returns, rolling his own eyes and scowling out the window.

"No one was even coming," Avery growls back, looking back out the windshield and glaring at the road ahead of her.

"Fine, just…don't push on the gas so much," Eliot says, taking a deep breath and letting out a calming breath. Avery rolls her eyes, but checks behind her anyways and slowly pushes on the gas, easing her way onto the road.

LEVERAGE

Avery puts on her right turning signal, gently stepping on the brake pedal. She begins turning onto the street all while listening to her dad's ongoing commentary about what to do. Clenching her jaw at how annoying she's finding him she tries to prevent an eye roll.

"Turn…Turn…Tur…" Eliot says before finally giving up and grabbing the wheel and jerking it to the right further just in time to miss the car sitting at the stop sign. He shoots Avery a look that would have accompanied a growl if there was one. Looking over at her father, Avery sends him a quick glare before turning her attention back on the road.

"I was turning," Avery grumbles out in annoyance, putting on the gas a little.

"Not enough," Eliot says, scowling at her and shaking his head.

"Well, sorry," Avery replies, making a sarcastic face while her hands clench the wheel tighter.

"You would think this is your first time driving or something," Eliot says, huffing to himself before running a hand down his face. He slumps back in his seat and pays attention to the road ahead of them. It's the quiet affirmation from the driver's seat that grabs Eliot's attention abruptly.

"It is," Avery replies quietly, her face suddenly dropping. Eliot's head turns towards her.

"What?" he asks, furrowing his eyebrows and his gaze trained on his daughter.

"It is my first time driving," Avery says again, this time a little louder as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

"You never learned how to drive before this?" Eliot asks, knowing she had been sixteen for a little while before he met her.

"Well, yeah. Mama never really had time to teach me. She…was in a lot of pain…so I never bothered to ask her about it," Avery explains with a shrug of her shoulders, making sure to keep her face towards the road for more than the obvious reason. Eliot watches her for a moment.

"Well, in that case, you're doing a pretty good job then," Eliot assures calmly before he looks back at the road.

"Thanks," Avery replies, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Just…next time you make a right hand turn, turn the steering wheel a little sharper," Eliot coaches in a tone softer than his earlier one. He was beginning to see that his daughter had missed out on quite a bit growing up due to taking care of her mom.

LEVERAGE

"Start slowing down," Eliot coaches, Avery listening and responding positively this time. "Slowly pull into the parking lot. And remember, right hand turns…Good."

Avery pulls the truck into the parking lot and pulling into a spot. Once she puts the truck in to park, Avery turns it off and hands her dad the keys. Eliot takes them from her and hops out of the passenger side. Avery opens her door and climbs out, shutting it behind her and walking over to her dad. Hitting a button and locking the doors behind him, Eliot looks over at his daughter as she approaches him.

"Better. You're getting there," Eliot encourages while giving her a smile.

"Does that mean I can drive the Challenger next time?" Avery replies with a hopeful grin and a raise of her brow. Eliot laughs as he shakes his head and wraps an arm around Avery's shoulders. The two of them head into the bar and Eliot leads her into the elevator before Avery looks over at him. "Dad? I can drive the Challenger next time right?"

Eliot gives her a looks but doesn't answer. The elevator dings and the two of them exit, walking over to Nate's door and entering the apartment. Avery huffs and follows her dad inside. Nate and Sophie look up from their seats. The relaxes postures and the slight bounce in Avery's step tells them that things went well.

"How'd the driving lesson go?" Nate asks, eyebrows rising in question as he watches the father-daughter duo closely.

"Towards the end? Not too bad," Eliot replies while giving Avery a small smile. "The beginning was rough."

"Yeah, dad was freaking out," Avery adds in as she plops onto the couch, all but pouting.

"I was not freaking out," Eliot argues, shooting her a glare with no real heat behind it.

"Really?" Nate asks in interest with a raise of his brow and a smile playing on his lips. A look is shared between he and Sophie before he turns his attention back on the hitter in front of him.

"I was not freaking out," Eliot reiterates as he shifts his attention to Nate and gives him a real glare.

"This Eliot?" Nate asks, pointing at Eliot as an obnoxiously surprised expression appears on his face. "The one who has taken on drug lords, assassins, other hitters, and more without so much as a blink was freaking out teaching his daughter how to drive?"

"I was not. Freaking. Out," Eliot growls out, punctuating each word. Avery smirks and Nate and Sophie chuckle as Hardison and Parker enter the apartment.

"What's so funny?" Parker asks, looking at the three people laughing in the room.

"We were just talking about how Eliot was having a conniption teaching Avery how to drive," Nate says nonchalantly before sharing another look with Sophie.

"I wasn't freaking out!" Eliot growls as he all but stomps to the kitchen.

"Eliot was freaking out?" Hardison asks as he furrows eyebrows with a look in to the kitchen at his friend.

"Eliot freaks out?" Parker asks, her own face matching Hardison's. The two of them share a look with raised eyebrows before Sophie's voice has them turning their gaze over to her.

"Did he get that twitch in his eye," Sophie asks as she points to her right eye. Eliot throws his hands up in the air.

"I give up," he says, walking away from the group and disappearing into the next room.

"To answer your questions. Yes, yes," Avery says, looking at Hardison, then Parker. She turns to Sophie with a grin, "And definitely yes."

"My eye was not twitching!" Eliot voice shouts from the adjoining room. The group chuckles and look at Avery who is grinning and nodding her head mouthing, "Yes, it was."

Please review and let me know what ya'll think! J