A/N: I hope you are enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it for you. Thanks to those who are reading and especially to those who are also reviewing. Reviews make my day. I don't own Leverage or the characters and I make no profit off of any of this. I do it for fun, and not for profit.

Chapter 12

Eliot hadn't really felt up to fighting Parker to get her to allow him to treat the gunshot wound in her side, and she didn't seem in immediate danger of bleeding out, so now that she was asleep, he eased the hem of her shirt upwards a bit and was relieved to see that the bullet had only grazed her. Working as gently as possible, he cleaned and bandaged the wound while she was sleeping, and then settled back in his chair, rapidly losing feeling in the arm and hand affected by his own gunshot wound, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Vance knew basic first aid, but didn't have the medical skills that Eliot had, so Eliot would wait for Doc Carrington to treat his own gunshot wound, provided she was able to come fairly quickly.

Vance moved back into the living room of Nate's apartment, taking Eliot, hands bound once again, with him, and leaving a sleeping Parker on the cot in the treatment room. Hardison, Nate, and Sophie gathered in the living room when they saw the two men come in.

"Eliot? What's going on?"

"This is my friend, Colonel Vance." He looked at Nate. "Nate, do you remember me telling you that I would have to go after Conrad?"

"Yes. I told you when you got better we would come up with a plan. I've been thinking about it, but haven't come up with a way to get to him yet."

"Don't bother. I knew I had to go after him before he tried something. We had his attention, and he wasn't going to take what we did to Zilgrim lying down. I asked the Colonel here to be sure you were safe from a distance, while I let Conrad know that it would be a very bad idea to come after us." He met Nate's glare with a steely look of his own. "I couldn't wait until I was better, as you suggested. You weren't understanding the urgency of the situation. I knew Conrad was planning to hit us soon—he as much as said so. Parker followed me when I left, and Conrad's men captured her and brought her to where he was, which also happened to be where she was going, but they didn't know that. They thought they could use her to bargain with me. Vance helped me rescue her. Parker and I both got shot in the process, and she cut her leg pretty badly.

"In my dealings with Conrad, I learned more about what he did to me during the job. Apparently, in addition to the nerve gas, he planted one or more commands in my mind in order to make me a weapon he could try to use against you all. We weren't able to learn what the triggers are, so as of now, any dealings I have with you until we've figured out the problem will take place with my hands tied. I am a liability to you right now, and I won't be responsible for hurting any of you."

"How do we learn what these triggers are?" Nate asked. "And the better question, what do we do about it?"

Eliot looked uncomfortable, and chose his words carefully. "I've asked Vance to call a mutual acquaintance to help. She's the best in her field. When she comes, Vance and I will take her back to my place, and I will undergo her treatment. I'll be in touch when we are finished."

"You don't plan to stay here?"

"That didn't work out so well last time, did it?" Nate looked at the hitter, only to find Eliot's gaze boring into him. There was no reproach there, only a statement of fact. "Besides, if Conrad is targeting me, being here will draw him here, and while I am down, y'all are virtually unprotected."

"If you think that is best, okay. We'll just have to live with it."

(0o0)

Doctor Catherine Carrington was due anytime. Eliot grew more and more nervous and jumpy as he waited for her. Sophie and Nate both noticed, but neither said anything. If Eliot was worried, that was enough to worry them as well. Yet, Eliot must trust her or he wouldn't allow her to help him, and he especially wouldn't bring her to the team's headquarters, of all places.

Nate was pulled back to the present by a knock on the door. Colonel Vance rose and answered it, to find a very pretty, petite woman, who looked probably half her real age, standing there looking up at him.

"Colonel Vance, nice to see you again," she said crisply, moving past him into the room, without waiting for an invitation. Catherine Carrington was a woman with an air of being totally and completely in charge of whatever situation with which she found herself involved. Her deep Emerald green eyes missed nothing, and as she took in the room, her gaze fell on Eliot, leaning against the wall.

"Commander. How long has it been? Ten years? Twelve? Looks like you have a gunshot wound that needs care. Since any of the many doctors with whom the two of you are acquainted could handle that, I trust, sometime soon, you will tell me the other reason I am here. Well, come on. Let's get started."

Eliot rose with some effort, and Vance met him in the center of the living room floor, followed by Nate.

"Gentlemen. I don't work with an audience, and I am sure the Commander would appreciate not having one either. Sit back down, and I will come out to speak with you when we are finished. She disappeared through the door that Eliot indicated, leaving Vance and Nate out with the rest of the team. Sophie spoke first.

"I wonder why Eliot was so nervous waiting for her to come," she asked thoughtfully.

"Spencer and Doc have a love/hate relationship," Vance supplied with a half smile. "He loves her and trusts her, and he respects what she does, so long as she's not doing it to him. But now she is, and he's not quite sure what to do with that."

"So, she's a love interest?" Sophie asked quietly.

"No. Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. There's nothing romantic there. She's more than a friend, and a little less than family, if I had to hazard a guess."

"What is it exactly that she does?" Nate asked.

"She puts people in contact with themselves—makes them face their innermost conflicts and their basest desires. When we served together, it was her job to question the POW's in the unit, along with making sure the soldiers assigned to her unit kept their heads screwed on straight. She is the very best at what she does, which is why I suggested Eliot ask her for help, but Eliot is a very private man, so having to ask for the kind of help she gives bothers him more than most other things might. She knows that. Whether she uses it to get what she needs or not, well, that remains to be seen."

(0o0)

Kitty Carrington sat silently, watching Eliot as he settled in the chair, next to the bunk in which Parker was sleeping, and tried to get comfortable. After a while, she said, "What's going on, Eliot?"

"What makes you think anything is 'going on'?" Eliot growled.

"Colonel Vance called me out here for a purpose. I know it has to do with you, and since I walked in the door, you've been as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I can find out why from him, but I'd rather hear it from you, and I thought you would want some privacy while we sorted this out."

"Speaking of privacy—I was hoping we could go back to my place to do whatever it is you need me to do."

"Might be possible. I won't know until you tell me what this is all about."

"I can't share too many details, but I'll give you the basics. During the course of one of my missions, I had cause to be exposed to organophosphates, and I have reason to believe that I had some commands implanted in my mind at the same time. I don't know what they might be nor what the triggers are. I need to find them and neutralize them, if possible."

"Tell me why you'd like to do it elsewhere."

"I'm a liability to the team. The person who did this is after me, and if my presence draws him here, then the people I protect won't be protected while I am out of commission."

"If you leave them, they will still be unprotected, and what's to say that he will not come after them to try to get to you that way. My suggestion would be to allow your friends to stand in the gap for you during this time. Do it here, and let us protect them for you." Eliot had to concede that she had a point, but he wasn't quite ready to say so. Instead he stared at the wall over her shoulder. A moment later, he spoke again, almost inaudibly.

"Thank you for coming, Kat."

She nodded, knowing that was as close as he would come to acknowledging that he needed her help. "Let's start with the gunshot wound."