Chapter 2

When Quinn and Elliot arrived with the still unconscious mystery woman back at Nate's they found the whole team in an uproar. Elliot had called on the way and filled Nate in on the bad intel, and who they had found in the warehouse. Sophie met them downstairs and helped hold the makeshift bandage on the woman's shoulder, while Quinn and Elliot brought her upstairs. Hardison was waiting with towels, hot water and antiseptic, while Nate told them to bring her directly to the bedroom. Working quickly Elliot and Quinn carefully deposited the woman onto the bed and turned to get the necessary supplies Elliot would need to examine and treat her. As they began to organize some supplies she let out a moan.

"Damnitt!" Elliot swore quietly under his breath. "I was really hoping she wouldn't wake up until after I got a chance to check her out. This won't be pleasant if I have to do this while she's awake."

He started back to the bed hoping to calm down the fretful woman so he could see the extent of her injuries. As he moved, he was shocked to see Quinn beat him there. Elliot watched in shock as he gently smoothed her hair back off her hair and murmured soothing sounds. The woman quieted, and her body relaxed. Elliot quickly filled a syringe, plunged it into her thigh, and administered the contents.

"Sedative and pain reliever" he remarked when Quinn shot him a look with raised brows. "Don't want her waking up if I've got to dig a bullet out of her shoulder."

Elliot turned back to the table, and began to gather the tools he needed to examine and treat the woman. Once he had everything he needed, he walked back over to the bed. Quinn was still sitting next to the woman speaking in low tones. Elliot couldn't believe what he was seeing. Quinn, one of the most ruthless men he had ever met, was stroking the forehead and comforting a woman he didn't even know the name of. Elliot shook his head and forced the questions out of his head. He didn't have time to ponder the whys of what Quinn was doing or why. He had to get this woman fixed up and conscious so they could figure out who she was, and why she was in the warehouse so they could find the data chip they were after.

He took a quick visual assessment of the woman. Her shoulder appeared to be a through and through, but he needed to get her shirt off to be sure.

As Elliot took visually took in the woman's condition, Quinn's thoughts were full of turmoil. As he stroked back her hair, and continued his soft murmuring, he was struck at how vulnerable and young she looked. She was beautiful, in a girl next door kind of way. Soft blonde hair and delicate features. Certainly, never the kind of woman he would go for. Quinn was all about the strong, assertive type. The kind that could take care of themselves. He certainly never wanted to be responsible for anyone other than himself. That's why he couldn't understand or believe the surge of protectiveness he felt whenever he looked at this small, delicate creature. He didn't understand it, and he was pretty sure he didn't like it.

"I think the shoulder's a through and through" Elliot's voice interrupted Quinn's thoughts, "but we've got to get that shirt off to be sure.

Elliot reached for a pair of scissors and began cutting the material away from the woman's body. He cursed as he removed it. The woman's upper body was bruised in a way that suggested she had been thoroughly worked over before Quinn had found her. Elliot examined her shoulder and was pleased to see he had been correct. The bullet wound was superficial and the blood loss didn't appear to be too substantial. He carefully cleaned and bandaged the wound, then turned his attention to the rest of her injuries. One broken rib, with others that were definitely bruised. This poor girl was going to be hurting for a while. Satisfied, that there was nothing more he could do, he called for Sophie to bring the woman a clean shirt of Nate's.

Quinn could feel his rage white hot as Elliot had treated the wounds on the girl. Granted, he was no saint, but he usually refrained from beating pretty, young girls to a black and blue mess. He could tell from the different colors that she had been beaten over more than one day. He stood up as Elliot finished bandaging the girl, walked to the door, and took the clean button up shirt Sophie brought in. Carefully he slipped the shirt on the woman and buttoned it up. It was way too big on her small frame, but at least they could get in on and off easily when Elliot need to check her injuries.

"I'd better never see the assholes who did this again" Quinn said. "I'll kill them if I do".

"I'm with you" Elliot agreed. "Come on we need to go brief the team."

"Someone should stay with her in case she wakes up" Quinn said

"Quinn, I don't get what your fascination is with this girl, but with what I gave her, she's going to be out for hours. We need to brief the team on what happened, and what the next steps are going to be. Let's go."

"I'm not fascinated" Quinn retorted

"Bullshit" Elliot replied smirking at the younger hitter. "The ruthless Quinn comforting someone he doesn't even know? Never thought I'd see the day. She's pretty, I'll give you that, but I've never seen you lose your head over a pretty girl before."

Quinn said nothing, but began following Spencer. As he got to the door he turned and took one last look at the woman now resting comfortably on the bed.

Elliot kept walking through the door and said "Quinn, I said let's go."