Nate was watching an old noire film when Eliot opened the door, carrying beer and pizza and, looking at his watch, Nate realised that this was urgent beer and pizza.

"Eliot," he greeted.

"Nate," the hitter replied. "Bought beer."

"Yeah, I can see that," Nate said Eliot sat down beside him, stealing the remote and flipping over to the sports channel.

A silence ensued for the next ten minutes or so as they slowly drank their beers and ate their pizza, feigning engulfment in the game. Nate was actually thinking about what on earth this was about while Eliot was silently brooding in the fact that something Sophie had said had gotten him so riled up.

"So," Nate finally said, to Eliot's relief.

"How the hell am I meant to do this?" Eliot asked, opening up despite his better judgement.

"What, you talking about Abby?"

"Yeah."

"The same as you did before."

"Yeah, but now she's a real person with opinions and hormones and skills and aspirations..."

"What exactly is worrying you Eliot?" Nate asked, cutting Eliot off. He didn't reply. "What you're worried she's going to get pregnant at 16 like her mother?" Again, there was no reply. "Or end up like you?" Eliot made a face suggesting Nate was right on the nose. The mastermind took a deep breath.

"Eliot you did what you had to do, I would have if it meant saving Sam. So maybe you've done some bad things but they're in the past. You are not a bad person Eliot, something which your niece knows. You, the team, we're in a good place. A place that'll allow you to do the right thing by her. And if that doesn't work out, you've got the rest of the team to back you up."

"Nate, I'm a hitter and a thief."

"You were a hitter and a thief before as well and look how she's turned out; she's smart, compassionate, and independent. And don't forget, you're stealing for the right reasons, a fact that she's aware of. Eliot just be honest with her."

"She's gonna wanna join in you know?"

"That's your decision."

"What do you think?"

"She seems capable enough, especially from what I heard about Miami. But it's your decision Eliot, no one else's."

Originally, Eliot was completely adverse to the idea of Abby working with them, but the more they got reacquainted, the more she realised she would be perfect for it; she was charismatic, intelligent, was a decent enough fighter and knew enough about justice to be an excellent grifter but most importantly she cared passionately about helping people.

He knew it was a perfect job for her, a thought which partially frightened him. But Nate was right, it was his decision, at least until she was 18, if she was involved in jobs or not.

"Eliot, you are a fantastic parent; just keep doing what you're doing and she'll turn out fine."

"Thanks Nate," Eliot replied and the two, in silence, finished the game, not speaking another word about Abigail; exactly how they wanted it.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Abby was lying on the couch, feet up over the back reading when Eliot returned home that evening.

"How'd I go?"

"Passed with flyin' colours, as usual," he replied. "Whatcha reading?"

"Oscar Wilde," she replied. "Anything else?"

"Beer with Nate."

"How was that?"

"Good, darlin' can we talk?" He asked sitting down next to her.

"Never a good way to start a conversation El," she replied, and sat up properly on the couch to face him, placing her book on the coffee table and crossing her legs. "Shoot."

He cleared his throat.

"How do you feel about my job honey?" he queried and she was slightly taken aback by the question; she was expecting something to do with her school teacher.

"Truthfully?"

"Always."

"I love it. I love the fact that you help people so selflessly. I love the fact it's given you, us, a family again. I love the fact that you're doing something good again."

"Again?" he questioned, wondering how much exactly she thought he did.

"I'm not stupid El, you were in the army and you did good things. Then you worked for Moreau, you obviously have done some... things which weren't as good. But that's in the past right? And you can't change that. And it's not exactly like I expect you to get a normal job either. I mean, use the gifts God gave you right?"

"That's right darlin'," he said as he kissed her on the forehead. "And would you ever want to work with the team?"

"Can I?"

"I'm not asking that, I'm asking if you'd ever want to," he reiterated.

"If I'm being honest, yes. But in saying that, I wouldn't want to make a career of it. Just sorta, help out in the family business."

"Because I don't want that life for you ya know? I don't want you in this life and I don't want you to follow in my footsteps."

"What? In your job?" she clarified.

"In a lotta things," he replied as he laughed awkwardly. "The conning, beating… dating."

"Gargh!" she exclaimed then picked up the pillow sitting beside, placed it on her knees and buried her face into it. "I don't wanna hear this," she mumbled.

"Abby I have to…"

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she exclaimed quickly. "When I date, you can give me the talk."

"Kyle…"

"Kyle and I aren't dating; he's not going to ask me out so, move on please!"

"We gotta talk about it eventually, ya know," he reminded her.

"When I date," she said again. "And think about it. You don't want me date, I don't want you to give me the talk so, this way, I'm less inclined to date," she explained and Eliot sighed.

"Fine," he said sternly; he couldn't disagree with her logic.

"Good. Is that it?"

"No. Look Abby all I'm trying to say is I'm not the best person to raise a kid and I'm not the best and setting examples. All I'm saying is just because I'm your uncle doesn't mean you should do what I do…"

"Eliot I'm not my mother, I'm not my father and I'm not you," she interrupted. "You need to trust me to make my own decision. You need to trust me to be me."

Eliot sighed; he had no idea how he had gotten so lucky.

"Just make good choices okay darlin'," he summarised, tousling her hair as she stood up from the couch and began to walk towards her room.

"I will," she replied as Eliot remained sitting on the couch.

"And darlin'," he began and she paused her movement, leaning on the door frame and back at her uncle. "What career to do want?"

She paused for a moment and thought. "I'd like to run a charity," she finally declared then scampered away into her room.

Eliot sighed once more; at least he had done something right.

So, not as drastic as you all thought... but still, opening up for our hitter is still a pretty drastic measure for him

Hope you guys like this, I wasn't too sure about it 'cause it felt similar to stuff I'd already written.
Thanks for the follows and reviews =)