A/N: Here's Chapter 27, and the beginning of the end. Please read and review. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it, and a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have stuck with me and my stories through all of the times I've had to go months between postings because of my schedule.

I don't own Leverage or any of the characters or worlds contained within this story, except those of my own creation. I write for fun and not for profit. I don't write slash. Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing. You've made me feel so very loved.

Chapter 27

Eliot could barely contain himself as they waited for the train to pass. When it did so, he drove straight through the railroad crossing, craning to look down any of the side streets he passed, and growing more tense and angry each time they didn't find a sign of her. His driving became a bit more reckless, too. When they finally came to a place where there was no way to tell which direction the men who had Parker had taken her, Eliot stopped in the middle of the road, and hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand.

Finally, Nate said, "We might as well go back to the brewpub and wait for them to call. We aren't doing anyone any good here."

Eliot spoke up. "Are you sure you want to go back to the brewpub, Nate? Because when we get back there, you and I are going to have a serious talk."

Nate swallowed hard. He didn't look forward to the "talk" he knew that he would have with Eliot, but it really was best for them to go back to the brewpub and regroup. They needed a new plan. He looked Eliot in the eye and nodded without a word. Lucille's tires screeched as Eliot turned her around and headed back the way they had come. He squealed into the parking lot at the brewpub, and had no sooner put the van in park before he jumped out of the driver's seat and stalked inside.

By the time the rest of the team made their way inside, Eliot was nowhere to be found. Sophie and Hardison settled in the living room. Sophie was waiting for a new plan, while Hardison was determined to find Parker. He had no choice. He had to look. He couldn't lose her.

Nate didn't stop in the living room, and he barely registered that they had done so. Instead, he walked straight through to the back office, but was rather surprised to discover that Eliot wasn't there either. The man deserved an explanation, but Nate didn't have one of those, and barring that, he knew his hitter would want a reckoning. And in the case of a reckoning, Nate would rather take care of that privately, and as quickly as possible, so they could get back to the business of rescuing Parker.

Nate was pulled from his thoughts when a deceptively calm gravelly voice sounded beside him.

"Nate." Nate couldn't read Eliot's mood by the tone of his voice.

"Eliot."

"Follow me." Eliot's tone still didn't give away his mood, but when he saw the look on Eliot's face, Nate knew better than to argue. He followed the younger man upstairs and into the room Doc had set up to treat those who had been quarantined with the Hepatitis epidemic. Doc looked up when the two walked in. She started to say something, but stopped when Eliot locked the door behind them.

Eliot moved up to Nate, so far into his personal space that the older man was forced to take a step back to look his hitter in the eyes. His face was stern and his eyes and voice were devoid of any hint of humor. Nate swallowed hard, and bit back the urge to ask if they were all right. Parker was gone, and it was his fault, and he deserved whatever wrath the man unleashed on him.

"Why here, Eliot?"

"We're here because Doc won't let me kill you. Now, you have ten seconds to explain to me why you made the choice you did before I hit you so hard it screws you into the ground."

Doc looked first at one and then the other, but said nothing.

"I-I don't have a good explanation, Eliot. It was a judgement call, and it turned out to be a bad one. 8989You can take whatever reckoning you want to out of my hide, but let's do it after we make a new plan and rescue Parker."

"Ahem. Gentlemen?" Doc said.

"I don't want to do it after I rescue Parker. I want to do it now." Eliot took a step forward, forcing Nate to step back again. Doc stepped in between them, steel in her eyes. Eliot spoke up.

"Kat, this is not your issue. Step out."

"And yet you came here to settle it. Why?"

Eliot didn't answer at first. Instead, he studied the floor between his shoes. She studied him, waiting for an answer. When he didn't speak, she did.

"Under the circumstances, I am not sure I should tell you this, but Parker came to me shortly before you all left, and she asked for my help."

"Really? What kind of help?"

Doc was silent for a long moment, and Nate started to wonder if she couldn't answer because it fell under some sort of privilege. Almost as if reading his thoughts, she spoke again.

"She gave me permission to answer that for you, after the fact and at the right time. She was concerned that she would get taken— that Nathan hadn't foreseen the danger, or that he might push too far, as he tends to do with deeply personal emotional issues." The look on Nate's face wasn't lost on Doc, and she continued.

"Those were her words, not mine."

With those words, she paused, studying the two men carefully, looking to see what effect her words were having on them.

"You said she asked for help?" Eliot was impatient, but he knew better than to growl at Doc. Doc nodded.

"She did. Said it was her backup plan."

"How did you help her?"

Doc jerked her head sideways, toward the area of the room that was partitioned off, originally as an exam room. "Why don't you come and see for yourself?"

Eliot stopped short when he reached a small desk where a machine sat beeping and whirring.

"Is that what I think it is?"