Thank you all so much for reading and following this story.

To my Story Buddies: Zee Zee Magee, Chiguy, Ghee Buttersnapps, Koxie, Laurellilly and any and everyone else who read this story and stayed with it until the end. Thank you so much.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the wrap up to this part of the story.

Chapter 48

"Give him a break, Soph," Nate encouraged, as he and his newly-minted fiancé watched their young friend busily pounding his computer keyboard, reviewing page after page of information.

"It's too soon for him to be working so hard," she urged quietly.

"He needs this," Eliot chimed in coming up behind them, "he's been going crazy for the past four months wondering where she is."

"I know what he's feeling," Nate added thoughtfully, and reached over to take Sophie's hand.

She smiled and leaned her head into him so that their foreheads touched. "I know," she conceded as she looked over to the couch where Joshua was quietly coloring, finally taking a break from his and Eliot's building block game. "I just don't want him to push himself too hard and have to go back to the hospital."

Eliot shook his head, "Don't worry. I'll put him in a sleeper hold myself before I let that happen." He turned to head into the kitchen, "he just needs to focus on something besides missing her," he added finally before he disappeared behind the kitchen wall.

Sophie sighed and nodded as she headed over to help Joshua color. Nate remained at his post, leaning against it and staring at the hacker's back. He exhaled a soft sigh.

It was amazing that they were all back together again. Well…almost all of them.

Four months before

Los Angeles

Not even the ambulance's whirring, red lights could demand Eliot's attention.

Neither of them had a pulse.

They were dead.

They were both dead. And he didn't want to fight, or escape, or try anything. For one moment he wanted to just be still.

"This is what I get for giving a damn," he silently questioned the universe. They were dead. He finally got them back only to watch them die? What the hell kind of justice is that?

"Eliot Spencer?" the EMT asked warily as he jumped out of the truck.

Eliot raised his head slowly. Maybe he could make one exception. If this guy turned out to be one of Sonia's he was going to get one hell of a beating.

"Are you Mr. Spencer," the EMT froze in his advance as a menacing shadow crossed Eliot's face, "we were sent after you by Director Sterling of Interpol."

Eliot stiffened expectantly. If this was a trick…

"We were told that you would be in need medical assistance," the EMT persisted and Eliot's head tilted down and to the right as he eyed the nervous man. "We were told to attend to Mr. Hardison."

Eliot remained still for a quick moment, then he nodded his head once and dejectedly indicated where the tech could find Hardison.

'There was no hope,' Eliot thought to himself, 'they were both gone.'

The EMT rushed passed Eliot and into the van's side door, followed quickly by another tech who'd watched silently as the entire scene played out. He made a wide circle around the slouching hitter and entered the van.

Each of the techs took charge of the care of the seemingly lifeless pair.

The first tech that entered the van lifted Parker gently off of Alec and proceeded to take her pulse and heart rate with a stethoscope as the other eased next to Alec and took his.

"It's faint but it's there," the first tech called as he reached for the oxygen mask to place over Parker's mouth and nose.

"Nothing here," the second called after a moment before he stuck his head half out of the van. "How long has he been out," the tech asked Eliot.

Eliot stood quickly and walked to the van's side door. A small hope sprang to life inside of him.

"About 10- 15 minutes. Are they alive?" he eagerly questioned.

"I'm not getting a heartbeat here," the tech answered as he reached into his equipment bag for the portable defibrillator, "but we were told that he may have been in heart arrest."

"What?" Eliot asked, taken aback, "by who?"

"Director Sterling," the tech distractedly answered as he busied himself opening Alec's shirt and attaching the defibrillator's floppy pads.

"We need to get these two to the hospital," the other tech announced as he continued his chest compressions on Parker.

The tech who was working on Alec nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey, could you help grab the gurney from the back of the rig," he non-too-politely asked for Eliot's help as the second tech jumped out of the van.

The hitter didn't hesitate though, he ran to help retrieve the gurney praying that the effort was worthwhile and that the medical intervention would be able to bring his friends back to life.

Two hours before

London

"Take a look at this," one of Sterling's officers called the images to his attention as he lifted the camera and began to scroll, "this setup is in one of the rooms downstairs, it's some kind of control center."

Sterling's eyes widened, "is that what I think it is?" he enquired as he took the camera from the officer and made his way over to Nate.

"Look at these," he offered Nate the camera and Nate stared at the images with rapt attention, more of the story clicking into place in his mind with every swipe.

"That's how you did it," he whispered more to himself than to anyone else in the room. Then he turned his attention to Sonia, "You put machines into them?!" he asked incredulously, a small, savage anger beginning to churn.

Sonia stared back at him without answering.

An urgent thought occurred to Nate. He turned to Sterling, "Get a medical team to the Bilmark. She's going to kill them," the intensity of his tone as he correctly guessed Sonia's plans froze everyone in the room.

"What…" Sterling began but Nate interrupted him.

"…the plan is falling apart, she has no alternative but to put as much distance between herself and Hardison and Parker as possible," he surmised, "her failsafe is their silence. Isn't that right?" Nate stared squarely at Sonia and she stared silently back.

He turned back to Sterling, "advise the medical team that Alec might need to be… resuscitated, or something….just advise them that he might need a lot of help."

Sterling simply nodded to an officer behind him who immediately pressed his comm link to call in instructions for medical teams in Los Angeles to be dispatched to the Bilmark.

Another officer entered the room and walked straight to Sterling, "We just received intell that there was supposed to be an attempt on the Emir's life yesterday but it was preempted."

Sterling digested the information.

"…but the strange thing is that the Trigger was the one who alerted ground forces," the officer continued.

"Do we have any specs on the Trigger man?" Sterling asked although he somehow knew the answer.

"No, but we think he's Black Ops. The news emanated from one region down there and those guys are all Black Ops, they only trust their own."

Sterling smiled as his eyes met Nate's, "Yes, and they're the only ones who could have pulled this off and kept it so hush-hush." He shook his head and nearly laughed out loud, "That cheeky bastard. He's still alive."

Nate smiled too and felt a little relief. Eliot was alive and up to his old tricks. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Then he thought if Eliot thwarted his assignment, he had to have another agenda. Hardison and Parker, Nate concluded, and somehow knew Eliot would find a way to get to them.

"Sterling, you should probably warn the medical team to identify themselves and drop your name… Eliot might be with them."

Sterling nodded, understanding Nate's reference instantly. He pressed the Comm in his ear, "…warn the medics that they should approach with caution. A man named Eliot Spencer might be with them, and he's not one to ask many questions."

"So that was your plan," Nate's gaze pierced Sonia, "use them to cause political upheaval and you would swoop in and be the one with all the answers…and all the power."

Sonia defiantly angled her chin toward Nate. She stubbornly remained silent.

"I know where Joshua is," Sophie stormed the room, a thick manila folder in her hand. "He's with people he's never met," she offered Nate breathlessly. He could see the night's tension had her frayed around the edges.

"You heartless, crazy…" Sophie made to lunge at Sonia but Nate grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back, "HE'S A LITTLE BOY. HE'S ALONE, HE'S SCARED, AND YOU GAVE HIM TO COMPLETE STRANGERS?!"

Sonia flinched slightly, leaning quickly out of Sophie's reach, "That couple was well vetted and are far superior candidates to raise a decent human being than you are," she retorted icily.

Sophie shrugged herself roughly out of Nate's arms and glared at him then at Sonia. She took a deep breath to regain her composure then straightened her coat, "Well…be that as it may, I am going to get my child…." She leaned closer to the desk and focused her stare into Sonia with such intensity that Sonia was forced by the energy to recede into her chair, "And if you ever touch, or go near to him ever again…" Sophie stopped and stared unblinkingly at Sonia.

The message transmitted.

Sophie turned on her heel and walked out but Nate caught her arm as she bended the corner.

"Soph," he called and she spun to face him.

"What, Nate? Are you going to tell me to stop, to wait? Are you going to tell me that I'm crazy and…"

Nate grabbed her shoulders and she fell silent under his gaze.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

Sophie just stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I should have been more supportive, more interested, more...," Nate continued, "I just didn't know how to process…I just… needed time."

Sophie knew the confession had to have been a difficult one for Nate of offer.

She nodded her acceptance, her eyes softened as she forgave him. She allowed that it was no easy thing for him to readily accept and vowed to herself to give him the time he needed.

"Okay," the word was small but held her forgiveness, and understanding, "I think you should stay and help sort this situation out. If I run into any problems I'll call."

Nate hesitated. He didn't want her to go alone, but he knew she wouldn't be stopped or even postponed. And the situation with Sonia was at such a volatile point. He smiled in surrender, "Okay. Go steal our kid," he urged playfully and she smiled in return before she quickly perched on her toes to give him a kiss.

Sophie clutched the manila folder to her chest and turned to walk out of the building, two of the Interpol officers falling in accompanying step behind her as she exited.

Nate watched as she got into the back of the officers' car and said a silent prayer as she drove off. The building was crawling with agents and officers, dissecting every inch of Sonia's operation; he knew where every member of his team was; Sonia's plan to throw the world into chaos had been thwarted; Sophie was going for Joshua; things were in his favor for the first time in ages. But he still knew he wouldn't be able to have an easy breath until he saw all of their faces together again and each of them safe and sound.