Since Abigail had re-entered his life, it was rare that he got to enjoy himself it the way that he used to; go out to some bars, listen to some good music, drink a good beer and other similar activities. He didn't, in anyway, blame her for the change, she was more than worth it, but he was glad to be able to let go a little. And, in spite of the fact that he hated she was spending the week at Sterling's (he couldn't even think the name without growling), he liked the fact that it gave him some rare time to himself.

He was sitting at a bar (goodness knows how he'd stumbled onto it) but it had live (and good) music, a great selection of beers and whiskeys and several beautiful women, one of which who was paying particular attention to him, and he to her.

Their lips were almost touching when he felt his phone buzz from his jeans pocket. He sighed as he pulled it out, but answered immediately.

"Eliot," she stated; the wavering in her voice indicated to Eliot that something was wrong.

"Abby? What's wrong?" he questioned worriedly as his shoulders tensed, he straightened up his back and turned away from the beautiful brunette.

"It's Sterling, he didn't come back last night and there's a sketchy looking car out the front and Livy's freaking out and can you please come over?" Her plea was rambled, just like it always was when she was nervous.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes, okay darlin'?" He stood up and lifted his jacket off the back of his chair while simultaneously pulling his wallet out. "Keep the doors locked and stay safe."

He hung up the phone and pulled a twenty and placed it on the bar. The woman gave him a disappointed look as he swung his jacket on.

"Sorry sweetheart," he apologised. "Family emergency," he explained, already making his way out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What happened?" Eliot asked, embracing the nervous teenager and giving a reassuring nod towards Olivia as he burst through the door.

"I don't know," Abby shrugged.

"My dad didn't come home last night," Olivia explained.

"You waited 'till now to call?" Eliot questioned, gesturing them both towards the kitchen; the most defensible room in this house. He wasn't really expecting a breach or any trouble, but it always paid to be safe.

"He gets caught up at work sometimes and stays at the office," Olivia defended aggressively. There was slight anger in her voice, as though she felt attacked in some way. Eliot ignored the hostility; it was to be expected.

"And the car out front?"

Abby leant back against the kitchen island while Olivia paced nervously, her head playing through possible permutations of chess games; it helped keep her calm, gave her the illusion of some sort of control.

"Four and a quarter hours," Abby replied, without skipping a beat.

"Do you know what's going on?" Olivia questioned, pausing her pacing and looking sternly towards Eliot.

"Your dad decided it'd be a good idea to go after De La Court, apparently on his own," Eliot explained. It was a guess, but a good one. He knew Sterling was stupid, but he never thought he'd actually go after an arms dealer, let alone this one, without backup.

"Who's De La Court?" both Olivia and Abby asked in unison.

"He's an arms dealer."

"Wait, De La Court?" Olivia confirmed. "I heard my dad talking on the phone to someone about him before he left for work yesterday. He said something about setting up a meet?"

"You know who he was talking to?" Eliot asked.

"No idea," Olivia shook her head. "What do we do?"

"You," he looked at Olivia, "and you," he continued, turning to Abigail whom he raised his brow at, knowing she'd mostly likely get involved, "don't do anything."

Abby wanted to protest, she wanted to help out, but she said nothing, knowing she'd be better just staying with Livy.

"I'll fix it," Eliot continued simply.

"And what about the car out front?" Olivia asked, her tone still slightly hostile.

Eliot looked over his shoulder to the foyer, in the general direction of the mysterious car. He did the calculations; it could be Interpol waiting for Sterling to return or babysitting the house. It could be the FBI (or various other not so friendly, not so legitimate agencies) waiting to take down Eliot knowing he was in town. It could be De La Court and his men waiting to make a move. It could be someone parking their car outside a house. Most likely, the odds weren't in their favour.

Then, as he was considering this options, the door-bell rang. Immediately, he tensed up and grabbed a large chef's knife (which looked unused) from the magnetic knife strip on the wall and gestured Abby and Olivia to be quiet and stay put.

He cautiously made his way to the front door, careful to keep his head low so as to avoid anyone shooting through the wood to his head. For the same reason, he peaked out of the side window rather than the peephole to see who was waiting on the other side.

He was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat confused, at who he found.

"Would you just open the damn door Spencer," he heard Vance curse. Eliot smiled and did as he was told, Vance giving him a crushing hand-shake as the door was opened. "What brings you to my neck of the woods huh?"

"I should be asking you what's bringing you here," Eliot retorted, checking outside and the mysterious car, still not entirely at east. "That was you in the car?"

"That, is Agent Fleming with Interpol," Vance replied. He stepped one leg back out onto the porch and gave the car a condescending wave.

"So this is about De La Court?" Eliot confirmed as he saw the driver side of the car open and an exceptionally beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair, flawless skin and perfectly kept suit step out of the vehicle.

"Agent Fleming," Vance greeted as the woman began to walk up the steps.

"Colonel Vance, what are you doing here?" she asked in a London accent. She seemed agitated with the man.

"Same as you, I'm on the trail of De La Court," he explained, gesturing the woman inside. Eliot stood aside to let the woman pass and, after she entered the house, he popped his head back outside to check for anything suspicious. Satisfied, he stepped back inside and locked up.

"I'm on the trail of one of my missing agents," she corrected shaking her head.

"So Sterling is missing?" Eliot confirmed. For the first time, Fleming turned to face him and looked him up and down.

"Yes," she said cautiously. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Eliot Spencer," he greeted.

"Are you a friend or colleague?" She seemed suspicious.

Eliot snickered. "Neither, just a disgruntled acquaintance trying to help out his concerned daughter." Her mouth opened slightly out of surprised. "And you are?"

"Agent Cassidy Fleming, Interpol. I work with James," she stated in a professional and well-rehearsed manner as she made her way further into the house.

"I don't even know why you're here Vance," she declared, her accent growing stronger alongside her frustration. "The NSA's never really cared about De La Court before."

"It just became our problem," he replied ominously.

"What do you mean?" she asked, highly concerned.

"We believe that De La Court has just sold a long range missile to person's unknown to be used within the next fourty eight hours. "

XXXXXXXXX

You all knew this Sterling thing would mean trouble, all of you.

So, what I'm doing, is writing in the team's season 4/5 break shenanigans in with Abby. So, I can promise things will get interesting.

Sorry i wasn't able to get back to all of your reviews! But they were all wonderfully appreciated.

This time round I will, I promise!

Xx A Lyrical Dreamer