"Well this is certainly, um, interesting," Abby exclaimed, turning in a full circle, her eyes gazing up at the ceiling of the cave. Its enormity was spectacular.

"It's a good spot," Shelley admired, placing down the pair of Abby's bags he was holding. Strategically, it was ideal. There were several tunnels and escape routes which led out to different areas of the city, it was out of the way, sizeable, defendable and perfectly strategic.

Abby placed down her bags beside the others and continued to ogle wondrously at the space.

"It's bizarre," she disagreed. "How does he even find these things?"

"I know a guy," Nate exclaimed from behind them, startling Abby, who jumped and then turned to face him.

Shelley turned more calmly and nodded a greeting at the mastermind.

"Shelley," Nate greeted in return. "Thanks for this."

"I'm just doing an old friend a favour," he dismissed, standing on ceremony, like he was still in the army with his hands poised strongly behind his back and feet slightly apart. "You're sure you don't me to stay and help out?"

"Eliot thinks it'd be a bad idea," the mastermind replied, with little emotion in his voice; he was still brooding over the death of his father and distracted with thoughts of revenge.

"I'll be on my way then," he bowed then turned to Abby. "Remember what I told you please?"

She nodded in thanks to his security advice. "Only if you watch the Princess Bride."

He smiled, nodded at Nate then made his swift exit. Abby held her finger up at Nate, indicating she'd be back then ran off after Shelley. "Wait," she shouted out and he spun around quickly. She jumped onto him, giving him a large appreciative hug. "Thankyou Shelley, I mean it," she informed him gratefully, releasing his shoulders.

"I was just doing my job," he replied politely.

She cocked and shook her head. "No, it was more than that, so thankyou," she repeated and he nodded sincerely then turned to leave. Abby smiled, ran her hands through her hair and took another look at the room. "Seriously, how did you find this place?" she grinned, turning back to Nate.

"My father," he replied, spilling out his files and papers onto the fold out desk set out in front of the display of projectors. "The Irish Mob used to use the tunnels for transporting goods and hiding from the cops."

She squinted her eyes at him. "You had a strange childhood didn't you?"

"No stranger than yours," he quipped then looked confusedly up at Abby as she grabbed a set of car keys off the table and walked towards an exit.

"Uh, where are you going?" Sophie questioned coming in from an entrance on the other side of the room. Abby jumped slightly in surprise.

"I left some stuff at Nate's, I was gonna go pick it up," she informed the grifter, who sighed.

"You couldn't do it with Shelley?" There was concern and worry in her voice.

"I just thought of it now," she shrugged. "Nate reminded me, the photo album Eliot gave me's there."

Sophie still seemed reluctant; the last thing she wanted was a repeat of a few days earlier and she was sure Eliot would kill her if anything else happened to her. But then, looking at the girl, she could tell that, even after just two nights, she was sick of being confined.

"Fine," Sophie conceded. "By stay safe please."

"Of course."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is that the last of it?" Quinn asked as they packed up the last box from Nate's apartment into the back of the van.

"That's everything?" Eliot confirmed.

"You know, moving furniture is not in my job description," the guest hitter complained.

"Six figures, Quinn," Eliot prompted.

"And a favour." He was sure to remind Eliot of that one; it wasn't everyday any hitter owed another a favour. It was something he didn't want to lose.

"And a favour," he confirmed. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, just gotta go grab my jacket from upstairs," he said as he ran back inside and made his way back to Nate's apartment.

Opening the door he was surprised to see a young women, rummaging through papers in the bench; this wasn't right. Quinn knew the Leverage crew and, knowing this wasn't one of them, sprang into action, grabbing the intruder in a choke hold.

The sudden force around Abby's neck had caught her by surprise and it took her a few precious seconds to get her head into the moment before she finally made a move on her mystery attacker.

She twisted her hips, manoeuvring them to his side which gave her enough mobility to elbow him in the solar plexus with just enough force for him to, ever so slightly, release his grip enabling her to break free of his hold.

"Again? Seriously?" she coughed under her breath.

The blow to the shoulder was a surprise; whoever this person was, they certainly knew how to through a punch. He wasn't worried though; after all, Quinn had taken down Eliot Spencer before. How much damage could a young woman do?

After the girl had broken free of his grip she had sent out a kick to his ribs; a kick which he had deflected as he ducked to one side. Then as she was landing and muttering something he could not hear and knowing she would be slightly off balance, no matter how well she had been trained, he shoved her slightly, and then grabbed her wrist, twisting it behind her back.

The kick hadn't landed, now her hand was twisted behind her back and his grip was strong. He pushed her face down into the bench as he further, and painfully, twisted her arm up her back. She breathed for a moment, and, as she felt his grip loosen with overconfidence, she twisted back around and threw a swift kick to his stomach. The man fell backwards, tripping over the step behind him and she smiled.

The blow to his stomach had forced him to stumble backwards and he tripped over the steps. The girl had the nerve to grin at him. He had been going easy on her so far but now that she had had the nerve to grin, he wasn't playing nice any more. He ran forward throwing two quick punches.

Apparently, the training with Eliot and talks from Shelley over the last day or so had been well worth it; she didn't even have to think to block the two quick blows he threw at her. "Who the hell are you?" she yelled, overly frustrated with having to go through this again.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he yelled back as he easily blocked the two punches the girl threw in return. Admittedly, she was a fairly decent fighter and could definitely hold her own against any John or Harry, but against a trained killer, she would never have much luck. Obviously she had had some training, but not enough for her to be dangerous to Quinn.

"Is Dubenich really gonna go down this path again?" She huffed as she slid over the bench. The second he had engaged her she had realised she needed to put distance between her and her attacker; he was too good for her, and they both knew it.

"Dubenich?" Quinn questioned. "I don't work for Dubenich," he said as he paused and walked around the bench to block the door. He could see her thinking, looking for a way out.

"Latimer then?" she questioned as she slowly pulled her phone out of her back pocket, her weight shifting between her two feet, ready to move in an instant.

"No," he replied. "Look why don't you just tell me who you are and make this easier on yourself." He crossed his arms smugly.

"You guys don't do your research do you?" she asked as she pressed a few buttons on her phone, still behind her back, dialling her uncle. She could feel it ringing, now all she had to do was keep whoever this was distracted for long enough.

"What were you looking for in there?" Quinn asked as he nodded towards the draw which she was rummaging through.

"What are you doing in this apartment? Pretty sure you're not meant to be here."

"I'm pretty sure you're not meant to be here," he said back, not enjoying the mind games, or the sarcasm, he was sure she was playing. He slowly moved towards her and, foolishly, she tried to run past. He grabbed her forcefully by the forearms as he tried to pull out a cable tie from his pocket. She kicked, frantically to break free. "Stop!" he yelled in frustration.

I had a lot of fun with this chapter. And guys, I need motivation! I have some really awesome ideas for season 5 but am stuck trying to finish the stuff in the season breaks. I have the ideas, just not the motivation and don't want to move on before I finish it.

Thanks again for the reviews.

A Lyrical Dreamer xx