Chapter 14

"What? Sophie…," Alec's breathy reply conveyed the shock and awareness that fell upon him at Nate's words.

A rush of thoughts bombarded him at once.

Their team was targeted. He was convinced now. They weren't the hunters all those years ago, they were the prey. Someone wanted to separate them and didn't want them to reconnect.

Something very bad was happening and it was bigger than anything he'd ever encountered.

"Nate, we're going to fix this. I promise you," Alec was resolute.

Nate sighed heavily, "Hardison, please don't do anything. I already tried. This thing, it's…they've got their tentacles everywhere. And they will hurt Sophie if I don't keep playing along. Stay out of this. Just keep clear. Just take Parker and stay away; go to Santiago or Sao Paolo, anywhere. Just go."

Alec perked at Nate's choice of words- Santiago or Sao Paolo!

"….And Alec," Nate continued softly as Alec listened, "it's really, really great to hear your voice."

Without waiting for a response, Nate ended the call and Alec hung on to the dead air as his mind wrapped itself around the information the call yielded.

He took off the head set and turned to Parker, "I'm going to Ireland."

"What?" she responded skeptically.

"Nate needs me. And he's being watched, closely.

"He told me to go to Santiago or Sao Paolo!" Alec finished expectantly as though she would know immediately what that meant but her blank stare reminded him that she was as clueless about their old lives together as she was to her own.

"It's a code we used when we're being watched or listened to. Santiago or Sao Paolo- S.O.S. He was telling me to take you and get out of here but I think what he was really asking for was for us to go there.

"…And, they have Sophie." He ran his hands over his face once again feeling the weariness in his burning eyes. "I'm sure that's how they're keeping Nate in check. They're using Sophie as the bargaining chip."

He turned to Parker and knew exactly what Nate must be going through. Had he known Parker was alive all these years he would have done anything to get her back but he would also have done nothing if he was assured that it was the only way to ensure her safety.

"You care about these people, your…collaborators?" she asked him, genuinely curious about the strange relationship they seemed to have.

Alec didn't reply but the heaviness of his sigh spoke volumes.

"Do you think Nathan Ford will have answers?" she continued.

"I'm really hoping…but regardless, I need to help him and then we can help Sophie."

Alec exhaled and turned away from her and to his computer to purchase their tickets. He'd gotten as far as selecting the airline when he realized he didn't even ask her if she was going with him. He just assumed that it was understood- Parker would want to go to Ireland, Parker would want to help Nate and would definitely want to save Sophie but this wasn't really Parker he was dealing with. This was New Parker and New Parker had her own agendas and wouldn't be taken anywhere she did not want to go.

He stopped his search and turned to look at her unsure of what to say or how to say it.

"Yes, I'll go with you," she answered him unflinchingly before he even had time to formulate a question.

He couldn't help the smile that tickled his lips. That was such a Parker thing to do- reading his silent thoughts, being bolder than him, knowing when he needed to be met half way.

He turned back to the computer and accessed his ID maker program. He selected one of Parker's old monikers- Alice White, and sent the document to process through his card press. He found them a flight landing in Knock International airport, thinking it better to enter Ireland through an airport other than Galway –just in case. Then they'd just drive the two hours to Galway and Nate.

He stood up to walk to the press hoping Parker's documents would be ready but before he could take any more than five steps he felt her at his side pushing him into the nearby holding bay where Lulu was parked.

"What the…" he began but she pressed her finger to his lips and widened her eyes to hold his attention.

She touched her ear to indicate that she heard something outside.

Alec peeked through the sliver of space left by the unclosed door but he saw nothing.

Parker touched his shoulder to get his attention and when he turned to her she indicated that she was going back into the main room. He shook his head vehemently to dissuade her but she ignored his protest and eased passed him.

He watched as she slid down to the floor and soldier crawled to the main door to the loft. She pulled herself into full standing height against the door frame and stood totally still.

She turned her head to him and prepared to mouth, 'Don't move,' but before she could finish her instructions the entire door was blasted several feet into the room. The accompanying draft of air sent Parker reeling backward coming to a stop when she hit the wall behind her with a heavy thump.

Alec dove out of the holding bay and ran toward her with no regard for his own safety or concern that additional blasts could be following. But he didn't get very far before a stinging pinch registered on his back and rendered him immobile. The accompanying shock that rocketed through his body and sent him into uncontrollable spasms was agonizing but he still found himself conscious enough to realize he was being tasered.

He couldn't do anything but breathe through the paralyzing jolts, but he didn't have to bear it for very long.

He felt the violent pull of the taser's needles being ripped from his back. His consciousness rushed back in time for him to witness the severe pounding his assailant was receiving at Parker's hands.

He couldn't do anything but stare at her.

It was a Parker he'd never seen. She was moving with the speed and agility of a cat but she delivered her blows with the skill of someone very well versed in several forms of martial art. She made quick work of dispatching their two attackers. He didn't even have time to regain full feeling in his legs and catch his breath before she was already done and patting the men down searching for information.

"Well if they didn't know that I've defected, they know now," Parker uttered with the slightest attempt at dry humor before turning to Alec.

He sat up and looked around the smoke and dust filled room as he tried in vain to reach the broken skin where the needles had pierced his skin.

Parker made her way over to him and squatted at his side to help him inspect the torn skin just under his left shoulder blade.

"How'd they find us?" he wondered out loud and Parker reached into her pocket to retrieve the comm to give to him.

"They must have reversed the signal."

"This place is invisible. I have the best signal blockers and shields…"

She cut him off with a look, "I may not know everything about what's going on but I know enough to know that what they have is better than the best."

She pulled his shirt quickly upward and touched the torn and already swollen skin. Alec grimaced and she apologized automatically. Then she froze as a strange picture flashed into her mind. A picture of her inspecting another injury…a more severe wound…a picture of him…bleeding to death.

Parker pulled her hand away from him as if she'd been burned and she sat back on her heels staring at him without really seeing him.

He felt her absence and looked over to see her staring blankly at a point on his back.

"Hey," he called softly and reached to touch her hand.

She startled and pulled away as she snapped out of her trance.

"We need to get out of here," she offered quickly. "Once they don't report in, more of them will come with bigger weapons and shorter tempers."

She left him and went over to their attackers, pulling the men toward the rubble that crowded where the front door once stood.

He could tell she was shaken but he didn't ask why.

"Way ahead of you," he said as he rose and labored over to the computer. He hit a few keys on the keyboard and looked on a large countdown started on the screen.

"What is that?" she asked as she surveyed the computer screen.

"We're going black in 30. The computer will wipe itself and emit a gas that will destroy all DNA in this room."

"Oh…ok." She was impressed by his efficiency.

Alec turned to the two folded bodies behind them, "we would need to get them out of here. I wouldn't want to be in here when that gas goes off and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to either. There's an alley just outside. It's a bit off the street so no one will see us dumping them."

Parker nodded, "I'll do it. You finish up here and meet me outside."

"We'll go to a place I have nearby to change and head to the airport."

She nodded her agreement and they turned to see to their assigned tasks.

She pulled the men out of the loft and into the nearby alleyway removing and tossing their jackets and shoes and littering them with garbage and stale alcohol.

And he gathered the few things he could salvage and that could fit in his rucksack and looked around at his bunker one more time.

"Dammit." He really liked this location. It would be hard to find another like it and duplicate its specifications.

The countdown on the computer flashed 15:00 in large red print and Alec hastened his steps into the holding bay and jumped onto Lulu's molded seat. He pulled on his helmet and revved the machine to life. She barely had a moment to warm before he sped over the rubble and out of the loft as the narrow hallway that led to the alley whizzed past him.

He saw Parker waiting there, hiding just inside where the hallway met the alley, pulling her sleeves over her hands to ward off the cold and he realized in his haste he'd forgotten to collect jacket for them both. Thankfully their next location wasn't too far away- 10 to 20 minutes given traffic and they'd be warm once again.

He pulled up alongside her and helped her to climb into the seat behind him.

She fit snuggly into the groove but she had to press herself flush against Alec's back to keep them both secure. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled into the hard warmth of his upper back.

Alec revved Lulu's engine again and tore off into the street.

As they wove and wound their way through the cars and streets, Parker found herself acutely aware of every one of Alec's muscles as he maneuvered the bike. She felt the flex and give of his thighs against her own, the contract and expand of his stomach and chest muscles beneath her arms and hands, even the twist and lengthen of the muscles of his back. She caught herself again admiring the excellence of his body; and his mind. The things she saw him do; the things he'd created- by himself no less. He was an impressive man, far more exceptional than any she'd come across in her service to Sonia.

She felt a slow blush warm her cheeks. Why did he affect her like this? She didn't understand. He was handsome and appealing but there was something more. She was attracted to him in a way that felt dangerous; contradictory to every instinct she had to avoid attachment, to always put herself and her survival first. He softened her and she did not like the vulnerability in the least. But she could not help it- she was inexplicably drawn to him.

As Parker shifted in her seat she adjusted her hands and pressed them flat against Alec's chest for just a moment before she repositioned them at his waist.

The movement was quick, but his skin recorded the feel of her hands clutching his chest. His heart rate accelerated immediately and other parts of him stirred to life. He wished this was some leisurely ride they were on where she knew what she meant to him and how much he wanted to just turn his head and kiss her or touch her. But they weren't on a leisurely ride and she may never remember who they were to each other and he doubted this new Parker would want anything to do with a silly thing like human emotion. He couldn't help it though- he savoured the feel of being so close. He was inexplicably drawn to her.

Alec pulled off of the street and down a ramp to the basement parking of a luxury residential apartment complex.

"This is…unexpected," Parker whispered as they passed the well-dressed valet who nodded at Alec with familiarity.

"Conspicuously inconspicuous," Alec responded evenly, pulling into a narrow cubby, along an entire row meant for other cycle owners. He powered Lulu down and they disembarked and made their way to the elevator. Alec pressed the button and the gilded elevator coasted up to the 11th floor.

Dark cherry-wood floors bathed in splashes of sunlight greeted them as they entered the exquisitely modern Apartment number 1102. The entire theme of the living room was understated elegance with plush pieces of furniture that ran the full spectrum of muted desert colors. From the unobstructed view of the city skyline to the sheer expanse of the space before her, Parker knew that this was a prime piece of real estate but she couldn't help notice the painfully obvious feel of a place that wasn't really lived-in.

"How many of these little hideaways do you have?" She called to Alec's retreating back as she walked deeper into the living room.

Alec had gone to upload the files he need from the previous computer onto the one in the apartment's office.

"About three per state; five in the busier locations," he answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "They're not all so fancy- trust me. Quite a few are basically rooms with a working electrical outlet and a cot. So please don't be impressed."

"Granted those rooms are in buildings that I own but no big deal," he whispered smugly to himself.

"That is impressive," she responded quietly from behind him and Alec nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that," he breathed trying to get his heart rate back to normal.

"I think I would attract some unwanted attention if I travelled with these clothes," she tugged on her shirt which was dusty and riddled with small holes from the explosion and attack.

"I have a shirt you can use, and the pants…um…you can wash and dry them. The flight is not for another six hours."

"I'd like to take a shower too… It's been a long day."

Alec couldn't help the visual he got at Parker's words.

"Umm, sure. The shower's in the bedroom. Please feel free."

Parker nodded her thanks and went into the bedroom.

Alec returned to the computer, his thoughts only marginally on the screen in front of him.

It was a form of torture. He convinced himself he was being punished. He'd beaten himself up for years wishing he'd told Parker how he felt about her while he'd had a chance and now that he miraculously had a second chance he couldn't risk acting on his feelings for fear that it would trigger some kind of mental breakdown in her- or that she'd kick his ass for his unwanted advance.

He leaned back forcefully against the chair and the wound on his back screamed in protest.

"Ahhhhhh," he flung himself forward and stretched in vain to reach the distressed area.

"You really should clean that before it becomes infected," Parker's voice snapped his attention.

Alec's mouth fell open wordlessly as he caught sight of her standing before him with nothing on but her underwear.

The set was plain black, simple, no frills; a pair of boy shorts and a top that had the look and functionality of a sports bra but as she stood before him as unabashed as she would fully clothed. Alec couldn't help but think that he hadn't seen anything as wonderful since his first Christmas tree at Nana's house when he was a child.

He couldn't stop staring and she couldn't move. Their eyes met and held.

"I needed a towel," Parker said at last.

"Ok…" Alec swallowed and tore his gaze away from hers, "I'll…I'll get one for you."

He stood and walked toward her. Parker turned out of the doorway to allow him room and followed him as he passed.

As he walked ahead of her she could see the torn material of his shirt and the raised and irritated skin beneath.

She reached out and held his shoulder to make him stop.

"Wait…," she instructed and he stopped walking, "the injury is really swollen. We should treat it."

She was already lifting the hem of his shirt to get an unobstructed view of the injury and he gingerly pulled it off the rest of the way.

She stared at the irritated, swollen wound, "Does it feel strange?"

Alec couldn't think past the feeling of her fingers against his skin, or the thought that she was standing behind him very near nekkid, "Umm, no. It hurts but it's not a big deal."

"Where's the first aid kit?" she asked and scanned the room for the small, white box.

He turned toward her and shrugged his shoulders slightly, "I didn't have room in my bag so I left it. It's fine Par…" he stopped himself. "I'll be fine."

He couldn't bring himself to call her Parker, not until she thought of herself as Parker again. His gaze fell to the floor between them.

"If it's easier for you I don't mind if you call me Parker," she offered and stepped forward, making the already small gap between them even smaller.

Her eyes drifted over the expanse of his chest and she felt her pulse quicken as a blush burned her cheeks. He was beautiful and she felt a connection to him she'd never felt for anyone else.

She was blushing. He could see the pink beneath her skin; her neck and her cheeks…and her lips. They were red with the rush of blood that colored her face. And they were drawing him in.

"Ok," he whispered hoarsely, it was taking every ounce of his restraint for him to talk, "I'm trying really hard not to do…."

He couldn't finish. Parker closed the space between then, pressing her body against his, silently savoring the feeling where his bare skin touched hers.

"It's okay…" she breathed softly as she lifted her chin and met his mouth with her own.

By the time he'd parted his lips to welcome hers and wrapped his arms around her bare waist, he couldn't remember any of the reasons he'd been trying so hard to stay away.

The cold was bearable. The heat was too. The filth, the stench, the screaming that sometimes filled the halls, the hunger that roiled his stomach- all of it he could deal with but the worst thing was the silence. Nearly three years of living inside his own head. Of plotting, planning, thinking, regret. He should have been there. He should have done some more digging. He wasn't fast enough or tough enough and he let them down. They were all dead because of him. He could still see their faces- Nate and Sophie, Parker and Hardison. He still felt the pain as fresh as it was three years ago when the five of them walked into Hastings and only he walked out. Truthfully speaking he broke out. Limping from a broken leg and a nasty gash in his head, only to be caught and captured when he went back a month later planning to blow the place up. He was foolish to go back but he was also stone drunk, unprepared and suffering the kind of remorse that makes a man wish for an end, any end. He'd been careful to avoid that kind of remorse for nearly his entire career but he supposed that's what happens when you begin to care too much, when you put the people above the mission, when death begins to haunt you and the ghosts never leave.

"50, 51, 52, 53…" his mind always drifted when he reached the fifties. Push-ups were so easy he could reach two hundred and just begin to break a sweat.

A silver haired woman watched with rapt attention as a live video feed that captured his workout.

"Is he ready, Doctor?"

"Yes, Ms. Moreau. Eliot Spenser is ready for your instructions."