A/N: I hope you all are enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it for you. It's really been a lot of fun.

I don't own Leverage, or any of the characters. I write for fun. I don't write slash.

Thank you to all of you who are reading my story, and a special thank you to those who have reviewed. The reviews really make my day.

Now, on to the new chapter...

Chapter 25

With a sigh, Doc settled in to wait for Eliot to wake up. There was no way she could get an unconscious Eliot out of there on her own, and she wasn't about to leave him. She couldn't help thinking about Parker, and how frightened the young blonde was. She also thought about Eliot, and how much it would bother him to know he hurt Parker. Doc wanted to cry. They still hadn't found a way to eradicate the trigger word from Eliot's mind, and she was starting to wonder if she could.

A moment later, she heard a twig crack in the underbrush, and she felt her senses rise to the level of hyper-awareness. She heard a special whistle, and answered it. Seconds later, it sounded again. Again, she answered. Then, Vance became visible through the trees, leading Parker along with him.

"What happened?"

"We went after the last trigger again, and Eliot went out of control. He started choking Parker."

"Are you out of your mind? Why didn't you bring me with you?"

"You were busy with Shelley and Mitch, and both of us thought we had gotten most of it last time, so it wouldn't be as big a threat this time. I'll need to do some more research if we're going to get rid of this thing."

"Let's get him back to the house."

While they were occupied with getting Eliot back to the house, Parker disappeared again.

(0o0)

Two hours later, Eliot opened his eyes, and lay perfectly still, looking at the ceiling.

"Eliot?" Doc said, noticing that he was awake.

He didn't respond, and she proceeded to examine him, to make sure all was well after their foray on the mountain. She knew better than to do anything to Eliot without explaining what it was she was doing, but he wasn't responding to anything she said. He let her do what she needed to do, though, and she wasn't under any sort of illusion that it would be happening if he minded. She supposed that was a good sign. Doc wouldn't deny that she was slightly worried about him.

"I assume you remember what happened?"

Eliot didn't answer, he just turned to face the wall. Her heart broke for him as she sat watching him. Her voice was dangerous when she said, "Eliot, I promise you we're going to find this thing and fix it." He still didn't answer, but she caught the slightest nod.

"I've been doing some research while you were sleeping, and I think I have an idea that might work. Do you think it's safe to go back to the team's headquarters?"

"Can the team stay here?"

"If you trust Shelley to keep them safe. Vance won't allow us to work on this without him—not after what happened."

Eliot nodded, then suddenly turned over and sat up, spearing Doc with an intense gaze," Why?"

This was the part Doc had hoped to discuss later, but she knew if she wanted this to work, she had to be honest with him.

"Two reasons. I think I figured out why this isn't working, first of all. And I think you need to be in a place you feel more comfortable. That's the second reason."

(0o0)

Eliot was lying on the cot in the treatment room he had set up in Nate's apartment. Doc and Vance were seated in the living room, waiting for someone. They didn't have to wait long. A moment later, there was a knock at the door. Vance opened it to find Master Yu standing there.

"Master Yu, come in. Allow me to introduce you to my colleague and friend, Doctor Catherine Carrington. She'll fill you in on the changes in Eliot's case, and you will decide together how to help him."

"What has happened?"

"That's a long story, and one I would prefer to allow Eliot to tell you, if he will. Eliot's a very good friend, for a very long time now. We just want to help him."

"What did Eliot say about all of this?"

"He doesn't actually know what we are planning. He's been in a bad place since something happened with one of his teammates earlier today, and he hasn't been speaking to anyone any more than necessary."

"I will not be a part of this without speaking to Eliot first." With those words, he rose and made his way into the treatment room. Doc and Vance looked at one another in mild surprise, then Doc followed, while Vance stayed outside to guard the place.

"Master?" Eliot asked, a little surprised to see him. Doc stayed back near the door.

"Hello, my friend. I didn't see you at the gym this week, so I thought you might have gotten yourself into some more trouble. It appears I was right. Care to tell me what happened?"

"Kat? I know you're in here. Come over here and talk to me." Doc walked over to stand next to his bed. Those intense blue eyes speared her. "Did you bring Master Yu here?"

"It was Vance's idea, but yes. We've tried three times now to get rid of that last trigger word, and haven't been able to do it, so I think we need to talk about some other options. We both thought that Master Yu's particular skill set might be beneficial."

"You didn't think it might be prudent to discuss that with me before now?"

"Vance said you have a great deal of respect for Master Yu, and you haven't really been fit to discuss much today. We just want to help you—get you back to your team—and we thought, since it was someone you knew, you wouldn't mind. Do you?"

"Do I mind that you brought him here? No. Not if that's what we all determine is necessary. Do I mind that you didn't discuss it with me first? Yes, for although I know that you don't have to discuss your treatments with anyone, we've always made a policy on this team to be truthful with one another, whenever regulations allowed, and sometimes when they didn't."

"My apologies, Eliot. You've been so different since you woke up, both Vance and I were worried you might not act in your own best interests, and in a case like that, it is my responsibility to do so."

Eliot sighed. He knew they meant well. "So, tell me what it is you want to try."

"I'd like to fill Master Yu in on what we've done over the past week, and see what suggestions he might have that might help."

"All right."

"Good. Thank you for letting us help."

Master Yu spent half an hour looking at Doc's records of treatments tried during the previous week. After reading through it all, he was seeing the beginnings of a pattern taking shape. He said nothing, scribbling notes on a piece of scrap paper as he read the file. Finally, he looked at Eliot and said, "What does your body tell you is going on?"

"Other than the obvious—that it is physical as well as mental—I'm really not sure."

"That's a larger issue than you seem to think it is. The other two words, the ones that you were able to clear easily, were decoys. This is the real one, and if you consider how many times it was used in the week you were there, you will understand how deeply rooted it is in your subconscious. It is also related to specific physical actions—actions performed over and over, either there or in everyday life. Therefore, it is going to take both a physical and a mental attack on this thing to end it. The first thing we need to do is get your life force flowing properly again. When something like this happens, that vital energy is interrupted, and as you know, when it is interrupted, that is when bad things, such as illnesses, happen. My recommendation is an acupressure massage, in which both pressure and heat are applied to specific points on your body, in sequence, to help get your vital energy flowing again, freely. After that, a fairly strenuous training session and a hot shower should help keep it flowing as it should. Then, we will attack the command in your mind, and it will be easier to neutralize. You'll need some time for meditation when it is done, and we may need to repeat the routine more than once, depending on how deeply it is rooted, but I can't find a reason this won't work. We'll watch your diet while this is going on, just to make sure nothing you're eating induces nightmares, but I think that is the extent of what we'll have to do. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Eliot said, relieved that there was nothing worse. This was daunting enough.

Master Yu had him change clothes, so that he was wearing shorts and a tank top. While Master Yu knew that he never wore shorts, except rarely while in training, he needed to be able to access all of the pressure points on Eliot's body, and that would be more difficult in pants. Eliot still wasn't much in the mood for talking, but he was glad to have a plan. Starting at his temples, and working on one side, while Doc worked on the other, Master Yu showed Doc how to access the pressure points in a sequential pattern over his body. They went through the sequence three or four times before they were finished. Afterwards, Doc stayed behind to prepare for her part of the plan, and Master Yu and Eliot moved into the small gym Eliot had set up for training.

Master Yu said, "Prepare yourself for walls of defense."

Smiling slightly, Eliot took an extra bandana out of his pocket and tied it around his eyes like a blindfold. Then, he stood waiting. What followed was a series of lightning fast strikes, punches, and kicks, all of which he blocked without seeing. Forty minutes later, thoroughly spent and drenched from the workout, Master Yu sent him off to take a shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Eliot was seated on the cot again, toweling his hair dry. He stretched out on the cot and closed his eyes. Doc bound his hands to the sides of the cot, started an IV, and began moving deeper and deeper into his mind. When she thought she was deep enough, she said, "None of the trigger words implanted in your mind have any meaning to you, besides their literal meaning. They are not attached to any actions, and will not make you do anything. When I say the word, you will have absolutely no reaction." She paused a moment, and took a deep breath. "Potato."

At first, nothing happened, and she thought it worked. Then, with a growl, he began to struggle against his bindings. Immediately, she started digging deeper in his mind. She repeated the process.

Finally, the fourth time she repeated the process, he had no reaction when Doc said the word, so she said it again, just to be sure. Again, nothing happened. The true test would be after Eliot woke up. If nothing happened then, she would know that they had managed to eradicate the term from Eliot's mind. Now it was just a matter of waiting for him to wake up.