Take two with this chapter. Sorry for the formatting issues guys

"Hey," Abby stated softly, manoeuvring around some cables on the floor and walking around to sit next to Eliot. The hitter, reading, looked up and nodded. "Can we talk?"

"Course darlin'," he nodded, shifting over to make room for her to sit. "What about?"

Abby gave him a look. "You know what about," she declared as she sat down close beside him. "It's not always easy for me Eliot. Because I don't really understand it." She paused and rolled her shoulders, mildly uncomfortable. "I'm just glad you didn't do it, and I'm sorry for getting so pissy at you."

"You're allowed to get… pissy," he stated, uncertain about using the word which felt awkward in his mouth. "I think that's more than fair and, for what it's worth, I'm glad you don't understand. I hope you never do."

"Why were you gonna do it?" she asked, softly, shifting her weight to sit on her hands and staring down at the floor.

"My job is to protect this team Abigail, protect Nate." The explanation was brief but insightful enough. He wanted to protect the mastermind from what he'd become; protect him from the pain and horror he'd experienced.

"But then you didn't."

"Because I made a promise," he nodded at her, "and because Nate has to make his own decisions."

"And three years ago, would you have done it?" was her next question, which took him by surprise.

"Who you been talkin' to?"

"Quinn," she explained. "I sorta vented at him."

"Probably," he confessed as much as he hated to, but that's what he'd promised; honesty. "We were all different three years ago Abby. Sophie, Nate, all of us," he paused for a moment, "what matters is who we are now."

"I like who you all are now," she agreed.

"Me too," he agreed, shutting his book and standing up. "You should talk to Nate," Eliot added as an afterthought. Her furrowed brow asked him to elaborate. "Just because I can't make decisions for him, doesn't mean that you can push him towards the right one. You're good at that."

"Okay," Abby agreed quietly, nodding slightly to herself. Eliot stood to leave but hesitated, hovering over the seat with his hands still resting on his thighs. Abby wondered how long he was going to wait there, how long something (and she was sure there was something) was going to weigh on his mind. "What?" she asked, growing impatient and a little worried; in her experience, the more someone waited to tell something, the not so good it was.

"Nothin'," he declared, finally standing tall and shaking his head. "We'll talk about it later okay?" Abby nodded quietly as Sophie, followed by Maggie, wandered into the cave.

"Okay?" she agreed uncertainly as he popped a kiss on her forehead and walked off to make the final preparations.

"Abby!" the grifter exclaimed in a hushed yell. "You should meet Maggie."

"The Maggie?" Abby asked in response.

"I have a title do I?" Maggie seemed almost proud. "Hi, Maggie," she introduced with a kind smile on her face. "But then again, you already know that."

"Abby," the teenager smiled in response.

"Oh come on Parker," they all heard Chaos exclaim, chasing Parker in the adjacent cave. "Just one?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go deal with this," the grifter declared walking off to yell at the most insufferable man, child, she had ever met.

"So you were married to Nate, I bet that was fun," she smiled sarcastically.

"Some of it was," she agreed sincerely. "Some of it, not so much."

"So, uh, I bet you know him pretty well huh?" Abby asked, looking down at her fingers. It wasn't difficult for Maggie to sense the uneasiness.

"I do, yes. Why?"

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Something about being around Maggie made him feel safe and comfortable. The familiarity conned him into believing he was still in that simple life he'd had so many years ago. But his life was rarely simple.

"Now that you two are together, when Sophie asks me for a favour, how could I refuse?" she offered kindly and Nate forced a smile. As far as he was aware, he and Sophie weren't technically 'together'. Then again, neither was he and Maggie and he had just referred to her as his wife.

But still, he stammered.

"You know I'm happy for you Nate," Maggie declared after Sophie had left them. "They're good for you, she's good for you."

Nate laughed awkwardly, but it felt good, especially after days of brooding and darkness.

"You know for the record," he stated, finally regaining his composure. "I just want you to know that when we were together, well, nothing ever happened with her."

Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Oh god, Nate," she sighed, exasperated. "Always the Jesuit. If temptation counted as cheating, no marriage would make it past the first year. Imagine what it was like for me?" she continued, with a sly smile on her face. "You bringing James around all those years."

"James?" Nate asked in worry and surprise. Without looking back, Maggie kept walking, continuing with the grifting Sophie had just now praised her on. "Sterling?" Nate confirmed.

"We better hurry," Maggie continued, expertly changing the subject. "Latimer will be waking soon. It's your master plan. Pity if we miss it."

Nate let out a hefty sigh before Maggie grabbed his arm and turned him to face her.

"Nate," she looked deep into his eyes. There it was, that comforting, familiar feeling. "I meant what I said once, that I like this Nate better than the old one," she began and Nate, sensing what was coming began to walk away. The feeling was still familiar, just now not so warm and fuzzy.

"Nate," she continued adamantly. "Don't throw it away. Don't throw them away-"

"Who talked to you huh?" he asked, his voice tense like it always was when he was confronting someone. "Was it Eliot? Sophie?"

"Neither," she shook her head. "Abigail." The name fell softly from her lips.

Nate looked surprised and shifted the box in his hands.

"She cares about you Nate," Maggie continued softly. "So do all the others. Please just think about that before you do something stupid." It wasn't a plea or a question, she knew either would be pointless on Nate, it was merely a reminder.

Nate shifted the box once more and continued walking.

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Abby found Nate still sitting with the gun in front of him, staring at it deeply.

"I'm sorry about your dad," she declared walking up behind him. Unaware and deep in his thoughts, he jolted in surprise. "He um, he sounded like he really cared about you."

She continued walking closer and sat down next to him as he stuffed the gun into his pocket. Still he said nothing until, again surprised, she embraced him in a loving hug. He didn't reciprocate at first but after a moment, he hugged her back.

"Nate please don't do anything stupid," she pleaded, letting go and returning to sit next to him.

"I don't know what you mean," he said in a hoarse whisper.

"Nate if you won't do it, or not do it, for yourself, will you at least do it for me? I don't want to see you more broken. Neither does anyone else. We love you," she said, the last words barely inaudible.

Once again Nate did not reply and Abby, feeling she'd said all she could say, shrugged, kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

As always thanks guys. And I didn't get a chance to reply to any of your reviews soooo...
inkhands96- Thankyou, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Hope we get to see more work from you soon.
- I hear that, he'll either learn or he won't. Or she will. Thanks again!

jinxcat21- Glad you liked it, emotion thingy magigs are something I enjoy writing but am never quite sure about, so thanks. Well, yes to the Abby and Nate scene as for your other question... you'll just have to wait and
dsnygal and Daisyangel- yes, tough is the word. I'm glad you liked it though

So I'm working on s5 and all your suggestions/requests slowly and I have a question for you all. Obviously I'm going to have original cons and plot lines but in terms of the /emactual emepisodes... how much did you want them written. Do you want Abby entirely (or mostly) written into the con or just sort of have it going on in the background. Because I'm not sure.
Any way, much love to you all

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