It's been a long few months- involving international relocation, a whirlwind of distraction, and staggering writer's block. For those of you who faithfully checked for updates, I sincerely apologize for the long delay. Zee-Zee Magee, Chiguy, Forgot Login, thank you for the encouragement. Zee Zee and Chiguy, I actually find myself looking forward to seeing how you like the updates To everyone else who added the story to their Alerts- thank you, thank you, thank you! Having someone to write for, someone who actually wants to read what you have to say is major.

I really hope you enjoy. Please read and review.

Chapter 29

"Our son."

The words repeated themselves in Nate's head over and over again but all he offered Sophie's expectant stare was a blank, slack jawed expression.

"What?!" It was Elliot who spoke first. His impatient growl tempered only by the conviction on Sophie's face as she turned to him.

Then her gaze fell to Joshua's appraising eyes and she walked over to him and knelt beside the couch, bending low so that their faces were level.

He was her son.

As she stared into his crystal blue eyes a wash of certainty settled over her. She'd never been as sure of anything in all her life.

She wanted to cry, shout, laugh, pick him up and spin him around and never let him go, but the weight of the moment leaded her. Her hands were pinned to the ground and her mouth had gone as dry as the Sahara. All she could do was look at him.

And he stared back, surveying the strange creature in front of him with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Sophie…" Elliot called quietly, breaking into their exchange, "what are you talking about?"

Sophie took a slow, shaky breath but her eyes never left Joshua's.

She began to speak as the old air left her lungs.

"Three years ago… after I'd been…held, I was taken to a place in Europe. I didn't know exactly where or why and I couldn't figure a way out. The people who held me were not cruel to me; I was fed and allowed basic amenities but no one would talk to me…"

Sophie's voice was so soft and even, she could have been telling Joshua a bed time story. Nate moved closer to her and stood behind. Elliot merely listened intently, his own memory of that night and the time after it flashing intermittently into his memory.

Sophie continued, "…I was there for about two months before I became very ill. I lost weight, I had no appetite, I couldn't keep anything down. I thought at first that they'd poisoned me and I was just waiting to die."

She sighed and stopped and for just a moment her eyes left Joshua's and fell to the floor.

Nate reached out and touched her shoulder, his presence and acknowledgement encouraging her to continue.

"…I was horribly ill for a few more weeks before I stopped thinking I was being poisoned and started thinking about other possible reasons I'd been ill. I was so turned around it didn't once occur to me that I may have been pregnant. It felt like the most unlikely outcome so I ignored it until my stomach actually started growing."

Sophie's eyes once again found Joshua's.

"I felt the baby move," she whispered more to herself than to the others, "and I decided then and there I was going to fight and live. That my baby would live. I would do whatever it took to ensure our safety."

She stopped speaking and her gaze once again saw without seeing. They glazed with her unblinking stare as the past played in her mind like a movie.

"I became very chatty with the person who left my food every day. They never talked back but I could sense that they were warming up to me. It took about a month before I felt I'd built enough trust that I could ask to meet with whoever was in charge, and about another week before I was actually given an audience with a man who did little more than stare at me for another two weeks before he finally told me why I was being held."

Sophie blinked out of her memory and looked behind her to Nate and then over to Eliot; and they both stared back hinged on her retelling of her portion of their shared fate three years ago.

"He showed me a file. They had everything. They knew…everything," she said, her words coming out in a hushed and urgent gust.

"He knew more about me than I'd even remembered. And he had large files on the rest of you but he'd stamped DECEASED on all of their covers," she paused and swallowed thickly at the memory.

"I asked him what he wanted and he told me that he would require my 'special services' from time to time."

Nate's jaw clenched and he bit back an oath. Sophie felt his fingers get rigid on her shoulder and she reached up to soothe him.

"It wasn't like that. He wanted a grifter; one who could move in very exclusive circles. I told him I didn't grift anymore, that I'd retired and I only helped people. He told me that he would very willingly hand my file over to every European law enforcement agency and watch them scramble over me while my child bounced around in the social services."

Her eyes once again found Joshua's and her hand rose to touch his.

"He knew that I was pregnant. I don't know how, but he always seemed to be one step ahead. I didn't think twice. I thought I'd lost you all; my baby was all I had left. I agreed to do whatever he asked."

"So what happened?" Eliot questioned, the concern clearly etched on his face.

"After I agreed and I began playing along, it all became very civilized. I was given a beautiful suite, an assistant, wonderful clothes, and most importantly the best medical care. I was miserable. But I focused on the baby and everything went as it should until the day I went into labor."

The tears she'd earlier denied ran freely down her face.

"Nothing felt out of the ordinary. I had pains but it felt as though they were to be expected. It wasn't until I'd been given the epidural that things seemed to go horribly wrong."

The flashing images of the white walls revisited.

"…my vision became blurred, in and out…."

The phantom screaming echoed in her ears alone.

"…I could feel pain but it felt so far away…"

Hazy figures moving all around her, talking around her, not at her, uttering words she couldn't quite hear or understand.

"…and then I heard one small cry…and then nothing."

A soft sob hick-upped from Sophie's lips and Nate sat beside her and turned her face to his.

"Sophie," he started, easing the word past the lump in his own throat, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone."

Sophie looked into Nate's eyes and saw the pain there. She wondered if her story reminded him at all of the tragedy of his first son's passing.

"You don't have to be sorry, Nate," she whispered as she touched his face, "we found him."

Nate looked at the little boy for a moment and then turned away as if the act had caused him physical pain.

"Sophie, I don't think we should…" he began.

"Nate, it's him. I know it," she cut him off, knowing what he was going to say.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked her quietly.

Sophie looked at Joshua, "I just am."

"Sophie…" Nate started but Eliot interjected, curiosity gnawing at him.

"Sophie, you said that you never met Sonia, right?"

Sophie nodded, her brows knitted as she tried to follow Eliot's line of questioning.

"What was your handler's name?" Eliot continued.

"Nicaro Caesar," Sophie answered evenly.

Eliot's expelled a heavy sigh and looked to Joshua.

"Nicaro Caesar was the man I worked for."

Nate's gaze travelled slowly from Eliot's face to Joshua's as the weight of everything that had been said that night finally began to sink in. His stare landed on Joshua's eyes, the mirror image of his own and the tightness in his throat grew.

Anger churned, wrapped around a gut-crunching pain he couldn't quite label.

But he didn't get a chance to let his emotions play themselves out so he could reach an equilibrium.

"This is all very touching indeed," Sterling called dryly as he entered the room, "but we have company."

His haste made it was clear that his light delivery belied the seriousness of the situation.

They all rose instantly and Sophie reached for Joshua who in turn reached for Eliot.

Sophie's face fell but she quickly composed herself.

"I won't let anything happen to him," Eliot promised softly and Sophie nodded and tried to offer a small smile.

Sterling passed quickly through the huddle and pulled a book loose from the shelves on the wall opposite the door he'd just entered. A creaking noise signaled the heavy, grinding movement of the massive bookshelf to reveal a dimly lit downward staircase.

Nate rolled his eyes and shook his head lightly, caught in the significance of the moment even with the threat lurking outside, "Sterling, really…an escape hidden behind a bookshelf?! Isn't that a bit of a cliché?"

Sterling's head whipped backward, "Do you want to use my cliché or discuss contemporary villainy with the fast approaching horde?"

Eliot and Sophie walked quickly into the tunnel.

"Yes, I thought you'd see my point," Sterling mused as he turned and headed into the tunnel and down the stairs.

Nate stepped in behind him just as the heavy, grinding shelf moved back into position.