In the car, driving back to Maggie's house on the other side of town, the woman couldn't help notice Abby's fidgeting. The way she repetitive glances at the clock on the dash, then on her phone, and incessant checking for messages and missed calls. Once or twice, she even switched the mobile onto silent, then back onto loud again, just to make sure she wouldn't miss anything.

Sterling and Olivia had driven back in his car which had been sitting in the carpark of the club for the last day or so.

"Everything's going to be fine Abigail," Maggie reassured, offering her a quick but kind glance.

"Hm?" Abby asked as she was ripped from her repetitive thoughts. She looked at Maggie, asking her to repeat whatever comment she had just made and missed.

"Eliot, the missile, it's all going to be fine," she repeated, elaborating this time for clarity.

"The thing's set to go off in two minutes Maggie, but I haven't heard anything from him," she began, looking towards the blonde. "I should have heard something by now." She looked down at her hand, clenched together between her knees.

"And you're worried?"

"Of course I'm worried!" the teen replied looking up once more. Her voice was filled with surprise and upset.

"It must be hard," Maggie empathised. "Eliot's job."

Abby shrugged. "I'm used to it by now."

"But?"

"But it doesn't make it any easier."

"And what happened in Boston, that can't have been easy either," Maggie added. The car turned a corner and soft light flooded the car from the suburban street lights.

"How-"

"Olivia mentioned it," she replied quickly. "You know sometimes it helps to have a buffer outside of your own family to talk to. I'm always here to talk if you need."

"Thankyou Maggie, I appreciate that." Abby looked down at the time on her phone again, then up at the clock on the dashboard, hoping that one of them would be off. Just as she let out a concerned worrisome sigh, her phone buzzed. She jumped in her seat to answer it.

"Eliot?"

"Yeah sweetheart, we're okay, the missile's out of action," he jumped straight into the explanation. "We're okay," he said again just for extra reassurance.

Abby relaxed and sunk into her seat. Beside her, Maggie smiled in relief. "That's good to hear," Abby grinned, settling further into her seat, now that her mind was allowing her body to calm and relax. "Everything's good on this end too. Cassidy reckon's we'll have enough to put De La Court away for good."

"That's good to hear." She heard a car door slam and an engine begin to roar.

"You know, they should give you a medal for what you do." Eliot laughed on the other side of the phone.

"You hear that Vance?" Eliot joked.

"Like you need another one."

"You heading back to the states?"

"Actually Abby, turns out we've got a bit more of De La Court's network here to dismantle," he stated uncertainly.

"Oh." Abby's tone and body sunk almost immediately. Eliot heard her shift in mood and spoke up immediately.

"I can come home if you want Abs."

"Hey?" Vance protested but Eliot waved him off.

"I can come home if you want," he repeated, as much for Vance's understanding as for Abby.

She sat in silence pondering. "No that's okay," she finally said, with hesitance in her voice. "You should do it, it's important."

"Thank you sweetheart," he smiled. "Why don't you stay the rest of the week with Maggie or Olivia and I'll put in a call to the others and you can stay with them for a while. Then maybe you can come meet me in Europe somewhere after I'm done."

"Yeah, that'd be good," she agreed, her voice chirping.

"I thought you would be. And please make sure you ask Maggie about staying with her."

"I will," she assured, glancing at the woman as she turned the car into her driveway. "I love you," she chimed, unbuckling her seat belt and pulling it back over her shoulder.

"Same here." Both hung up their phones and Abby placed it down in her lap solemnly.

"So?" Maggie asked carefully. Despite the car being now parked in her garage, she hadn't opened the door or even unbuckled her seat belt, waiting patiently to hear what was happening.

"Eliot's staying in Iran to shut the rest of the network down," Abby explained, looking up at the woman. "He wants to know if it's okay with you if I stay here the rest of the week."

Maggie nodded quickly. "Of course it is. Is he coming back after that or?"

"He's gonna call the others and see if I can spend some time with them," she explained. "Then I'm gonna meet up with him overseas. Do some travelling." A slight smile slipped onto her face; that part of the plan she was particularly looking forward to. Maggie meanwhile smiled in relief that everything had more or less sorted herself out. So, now satisfied, she undid her seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

"You should go upstairs for some rest. I'm pretty tired myself too," she offered as Abby followed her out of the car, through the relatively empty garage and into the house.

Abby, who hadn't until now realised how tired she was, yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I think that's a good idea," she agreed. "Goodnight Maggie."

"Goodnight Abigail."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mhm, good morning sweetheart," Maggie cooed, standing at the stove in her thin, pale blue dressing gown. It was morning, sun was beaming through the windows and the smell of French toast wafted throughout the house as Sterling and Olivia let themselves in through the side door. Abby was sitting at the kitchen bench in her pyjamas, flicking through her phone and sipping on a glass of juice.

"Good morning dear," Sterling replied, placing his briefcase on the island bench and leaning in towards Maggie to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning Olivia, breakfast?" Maggie, turned on her feet and scooped to pieces of toast onto a plate. She pushed it forward, offering it to Abigail, who smiled in thanks.

"Yes please!" Olivia said eagerly. She slid into the stool next to Abby as the pan began to sizzle with fresh toast.

"None for me thanks," added James as Abby walked towards the fridge, grabbing out a bowl of fresh strawberries and the bottle of juice. After placing it on the island, she fished out some more glasses and cutlery out of the drawers and cupboards before sitting back down. She pushed a knife and fork towards her friend and placed the plate between them. Eagerly, they both dug into the food, showering it with berries and syrup.

"James, please tell me you're not working," Maggie said with a disappointing, but not surprised, tone as she glanced over her shoulder. Sterling, standing comfortably at the bench, had opened up his brief case and was now flicking through a stack of files.

"He was working all night," Olivia tattled as Abby smirked. The family banter between the three was sweet, and slightly amusing.

"James," Maggie scalded.

"Somebody gave me up, and I want to know who," he defended.

"Well, do you have to find out today? It's a big day." Her response was calm.

"Big day?" Abby asked, perking her head up curiously.

"There's a gallery opening today that Maggie's curating," Olivia supplied, somewhat proudly.

"Seriously? Why didn't you tell me when I asked to stay? I don't want to impose!"

"Abigail," Maggie laughed softly. "You are welcome here whenever."

"You're welcome at ours anytime too, right dad?" Olivia added.

"Of course; anytime" Abby was surprised when she heard sincerity in Sterling's voice. He was a different person really, when he wasn't working or in any sort of radius of the Leverage team. There was something about coming into contact with the crew that, she suspected, James found challenging, something which he took personally.

"We're going to be leaving in about an hour if you'd like to join us?" Maggie asked, and Abby was careful to hide a cringe; unlike the rest of her family, she didn't have a lot of interest in art. She knew about it (living with a group of art thieves she had to) but she didn't really like it, at all.

"Sure," the teen agreed eventually, offering a sweet smile as Maggie flipped another two toasts onto Abby's plate. Her and Olivia dug into it quickly.

"Good!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

So, I'm back!

Crisdin- Sterling, is Sterling. When his ego's hurt, he gets snarky!

Next chapter, Abby plays matchmaker

xx ALD