"Abby!" Eliot yelled as he ran into the apartment just in time to see his niece, her hands tied behind her back, somehow manage to elbow Quinn in the face. The guest hitter stepped back and swore, clenching his nose in pain as Abby ran towards her uncle. She turned around and allowed Eliot to cut away the ties with a knife flicked out from pocket. Still swearing, Quinn released his nose then ran his hands across his face; he knew he'd screwed up.

"You okay?" he asked as he held her shoulder's affectionately, once again reluctant to let her go. She rubbed her now red wrists; Quinn had done the ties up tightly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said, breathing heavily and accepting the situation that had unfolded unfortunately around her. She stepped away from Eliot and now standing still, finally got to examine her attacker. He had a look of fear in his eyes; the fear of a man knew almost certainly he was about to die. Or else, face the very serious wrath of Eliot. And the rest of the team.

"You know her?" Quinn asked angrily when he'd finally stopped gawking and figured things out.

"You know him?" Abby asked simultaneously.

Both pointed at each other in frustration.

"What the hell Quinn!" Eliot yelled as he walked up to the man and shoved him, aggressively as his protective nature grew ever stronger. Quinn held his hands up submissively as he was backed into the window. Getting on the wrong side of Eliot Spencer was not something he wanted to do again.

"I…I didn't know you knew her," he defended as he tried to back up further but he was already practically groping the wall. "I saw her rummaging through some stuff. I thought she might work for Dubenich."

"She's a kid!"

"How the hell am I meant to know that?" He gestured to her body; she was wearing slim fitting jeans and leather jacket which aged her figure and fitted in with the questionable lifestyle of which Quinn was referring. It was deceptive and, with all that was going on, Abby had thought deceptive was the way to go.

"If you hurt her Quinn I will break every bone in your body!" Eliot turned away, then back again, pointing his finger at Quinn's face.

"I didn't Eliot. I swear," he said, slowing his voice down and cautiously lowering his hands. "None of my punches landed. You taught her well."

"Dammit Quinn!" He yelled again, ignoring the man's flattery.

"Eliot," she interrupted, stepping out from behind the protective shield of her uncle. "It's okay; he was just doing his job. And besides, I was the only one who actually got any punch to land. Twice," she said mockingly.

"Yeah, she punches like you," Quinn said, rubbing his face. "And who is she, Spencer Junior?"

"That's my girl!" Eliot said with a huge grin on his face, turning to face her. "And she's my niece," he explained, turning back to face Quinn. "And if you so much breathe a word about her to anyone, I will hurt you." The threat was real and Quinn knew that.

"Don't mention Junior, got it," he agreed, nodding his head.

"Oh, and consider us even," Eliot declared and Quinn sighed but did not protest. He'd rather no longer owe Eliot a favour than have to take another beating from him.

"So who's he?" Abby asked.

"Quinn. He's working with us on this job." Eliot replied, crossing his arms and staring menacingly at the other hitter.

"Quinn? Just Quinn?"

"Just Quinn," the man confirmed, mirroring Eliot's stance.

"No first name? No last name?"

"Just Quinn and not that this isn't great," Quinn stated sarcastically, "but shouldn't we be leaving?"

"Probably," Eliot agreed and gesturing out the door but Abby did not follow, instead walking to the back of the room behind Nate's desk.

"What about Old Nate?" Abby asked as she pointed to the painting hanging on the back wall.

"Fine." Eliot rolled his eyes and reluctantly walked towards the back wall to grab the painting.

"Thankyou," she chirped then grabbed the photo album she had come for out of the draw she had been rummaging through earlier. They left out together, Quinn behind and Abby protectively in the middle. As they marched out and down to the van Eliot could almost hear Shelley laughing 'I told you to' right in his face. He was right though and it had only taken Eliot two attacks in as many days for him to realise that maybe the best way to keep her safe was to let her in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What were you even doing at Nate's?" Eliot said as they unpacked the Batcave. "Thought I told you to pack your stuff and meet me here?"

"Yeah but I left some stuff at Nate's. I assumed you were still there; the van was still out front. I thought it'd be okay," she replied timidly.

"You shouldda just called me to get it," he replied, shaking his head.

Out of her bag, Abby pulled out the dense photo album he had given her for Christmas. Eliot sighed as she pulled it close to her; he could tell how much it meant to her.

"I didn't wanna-"

"I understand," he interrupted. "But given the circumstances you'll forgive me if I'm a little paranoid."

"I'd expect nothing less." She cradled the album close her chest and he patted her on the shoulder.

"And good job on kickin' Quinn's ass."

"But I lost, again," there was self disappointment in her voice, "he cable tied me."

"Quinn is very good at what he does. You did better than most to hold your own against him."

"But I-"

"Don't matter. You did good and you're gonna keep getting better," he interrupted.

"Thanks Eliot," she said as she leant over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yo Spencer," Quinn yelled out from across the cave. "You gonna come give me a hand with… this," he said, gesturing to Old Nate.

"Yeah," Eliot said as he walked over to the guest hitter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So I heard you had a little altercation with Quinn today?" Sophie asked as both Hardison and Parker piled into the cave with their guests.

"Yeah," she said half-heartedly and Sophie raised an eyebrow out of concern.

"Abby? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Abby?"

"I had to pack a bag."

"That's because we're all staying here while this job is on-"

"No Sophie. You know what El told me? He said 'I need you to pack some bags and don't leave anything important behind.' You know what that says to me? That we aren't staying here after this."

Sophie sighed, understanding completely how the girl felt.

"We don't know that Abby but, even if it's true, we'll still all be together," the grifter replied, trying as best as she could to comfort the girl.

"Sophie I just got settled. I have friends, I just made up with Kyle, I'm doing well in school. I'm settled in. I don't want to have to move. Not again."

It was the 'not again' that caught Sophie's attention and she comfortingly rubbed the girl's forearm.

"Care to elaborate?"

"You know how many times I've moved houses Soph?" she asked rhetorically but didn't wait for an answer. "27. Military bases, three or four after he left, so many during Moreau and every time I get settled I get uprooted again. You'd think I'd be used to it by now but-"

"No, no," Sophie interrupted, shaking her head. "You don't ever get used to it. Every time you leave a place you lose the little bit that you gave to it. But you also learn that there are wonderful new things awaiting you." Her almost poetic explanation made the teenager smile. "But regardless," she continued with feigned cheer. "We have built a home here and so long as this job goes well I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."

"Parker," they heard Chaos yell from the middle of the room. "Still yummy!"

"I should go deal with this," Sophie said standing up. "You're okay?"

"Yeah, Soph. I'm okay."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So what's the deal with you and Junior?" Quinn asked Eliot as they were setting down the painting.

"There's no deal," Eliot replied simply.

"Ha, bullshit. Guys like us don't get the family thing Eliot. So what's the deal?"

"The deal is after her mother died I raised her because the rest of her family are deadbeats!"

Quinn was silent; the harshness of Eliot's comment had caused him to be taken aback. "What about you?" Eliot asked, not wanting the silence to ensue. "Ever consider the family thing?"

"Once."

"And?"

"Decided work was better," Quinn replied, clearly lying as he turned away but Eliot didn't press, knowing exactly what the man was thinking. "And what about Nate? Things seem a little tense between you lot." He wiped his hands from the dust which was so abundant in the cave.

Eliot slapped his hands on his thighs and sighed. "Yeah well, that's just Nate."

"Sure it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So who are you like, Batgirl?" Chaos asked Abby, sitting at the table, her laptop out as she surfed the web pointlessly.

"Rather be Batgirl than some deadbeat narcissist who has a picture of a brain on his t-shirt," she replied; there was something about this Chaos character who disgusted her.

"No," he continued, un-phased by her comment. "You're like the kid in Jurassic Park! The really, really annoying one."

"Chaos," Nate said from next to the projector. "You leave her alone."

"Man you guys suck!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So who might you be young lady?" Archie asked Abigail as she braided her hair, music in her ears.

"Abigail Spencer," she replied, pulling a headphone out of her ear. "I'm Eliot's niece."

"Ah. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Archie Leech, Parker's father," he said extending his hand; she returned the gesture.

"So you're a master thief yes?"

"Not quite at the same level as I used to be, but yes. And to what do you offer to the team?"

"Cookies and my charming smile mostly," she joked. "No, Eliot doesn't like me joining in on jobs."

"This bothers you?"

"Yeah, a little," she confessed.

"And if you were to 'join in'. What would your role be?" he asked smiling and she paused for a minute to think.

"I don't know. I'm not an excellent thief. I can use computers but I can't hack. I can fight pretty good, but not nearly as well as Eliot. I can act, I suppose. But I don't know."

"Well, what skills do you have? And don't limit it to anything thief related. What are you good at?"

"Languages, I have a good memory," she stated. "And I notice things."

"Things like?"

"Nate's more tense than usual. But not just because his father died but because someone got the better of him. Parker and Hardison are on the verge of finally officially dating. You have a switch blade in your left pocket and are actually left handed, even though you pretend to be right handed," she said, the words coming out of her mouth before she even consciously realised the facts. "Why is that?"

"Tell me my dear, have you ever seen the Princess Bride?"

"I can see why Parker likes you."

XXXXXXXXXX

I had my first day off in nearly a month today. I stayed in bed and wrote (a lot) all day. Then I made creme brulee.

I now have some great story juices flowing so you can happily, hopefully, expect more soon.

Thanks again for you're awesome support. You guys are the best readers ever.

Love Always, A Lyrical Dreamer