Disclaimer - I do not own Leverage, any of its characters or plot line. I only own my original characters and anything that isn't familiar with the show's storyline.
I started writing this after watching the series. I absolutely adore Christian Kane and truly believe that Eliot deserves to find love just as his teammates have.
The title is based on Daughtry's "I'll Fight" which I consider Eliot Spencer's theme song.
Reviews and comments are appreciated.
So without further adieu, here we go. Enjoy!
Alexa was sitting at the bar alongside Eliot having a beer and watching a hockey game, when it was interrupted by a special news report. "…and if you're just joining us, we're following New Hampshire police in pursuit of a stolen vehicle. According to reports, the driver is a schoolteacher from Massachusetts, not exactly your typical carjacker though we have no confirmation on... Uh, wait a minute. Something's happening."
"Driver, pull over! Pull over now! Hands up. Step away from the truck."
Police vehicles surround truck and officers pile out, pointing guns at the confused and alarmed driver Paul, who steps out of the truck.
"You're making a mistake."
"Sir, step away from the vehicle!"
"You're making a mistake!"
"Step away from the vehicle!"
"It's a miss-a misunderstanding, okay?"
"Face down on the ground!"
"I didn't steal the truck!" He pleads and he drops down to his knees as instructed. "It's a misunderstanding, okay?"
"All the way down! All the way!"
The poor guy lays down on his stomach still trying to reason with them. "This is my truck, okay? I didn't steal it. I paid for it, all right? Okay." Ignoring his words the Police handcuff him and load him into a police car. "Hold on. Okay. Can we just talk for a second? I didn't steal the truck!"
Sharing a mutual look with Eliot, Alexa hollered back over her shoulder. "Hey Nate! I think I found our next client."
Alexa and Eliot headed up to New Hampshire and bailed Paul out, then escorted him back to Boston where they met up with the rest of the team to hear the man's story.
"I mean, if it wasn't my truck, why was I making all those car payments?"
"Let me ask you something - why'd you run?"
"I know. I shouldn't have. But I panicked. But I didn't do anything wrong."
"You, uh, you bought it used?"
"Yeah, from Penzer's a few months ago for my landscaping business. You can't really get by on just a teacher's pay these days, not with a family."
"Mm. And how did you find out it was stolen?"
"I went to a job in Nashua and the "check engine" light came on, so I took it to a mechanic, and he tells me that the truck's onboard computer spit out a fishy vehicle identification number."
"So the VIN number was reported as stolen."
"I figured it was a mix-up and took off. Next thing I know, I'm the poster boy for "America's Most Wanted." I appreciate you bailing me out, Mr. Ford. But what do I do now? I mean, the cops seized the truck. The bank says I still have to make good on the loan. The school suspended me because of the pending criminal charges. I keep thinking, "How did this all happen?"
"It's called car cloning. Thieves steal a vehicle then go to another state, where they find a car of the same make and model and use its VIN number. Then, using those numbers, they register the stolen vehicle in the first state."
"And since each state runs its own VIN database, the hot car comes up clean."
"Now, Paul Mantlo - he had the bad luck of wandering from Massachusetts into New Hampshire, where the VIN was copied."
"And of buying a stolen car." Sophie says.
"Where'd he get the car?" Eliot questions.
"Duke Penzer... he's a former race car driver. He parlayed some minor success on the lower circuits to start his own used-car dealership out in Payden, Massachusetts."
"Hi, folks. I'm Duke Penzer. In my racing days, old Veronica here never let me down. You come on down to the finish line at Penzer automotive, and we'll make sure we don't let you down."
"He still runs laps on the weekends. He tries to keep up his image. I checked out some of his prices, and they're sick. I mean, 20%, 25% below blue book."
"Yeah, well, it's easy to offer great deals when your inventory's stolen." Eliot comments.
"How's he getting the cars?" Sophie questions. "He's not nicking them himself."
"That's a good question. I haven't found out where..."
"Well, he's the distributor. The suppliers are probably a car-theft ring." Parker informs the group sharing a mutual look with Alexa. The brunette nods pointing a finger at the blonde as she realizes the scam. "Exactly. That way, cops trace a hot car to him, he can say he got it from someone who's long gone."
Parker nods back earnestly, the two women now having a conversation only they really understand. "Precisely. Besides, the scam falls between state jurisdictions, so..." She notices how the others are looking at her and Alexa. "I was a car thief. That's how I know."
"I boosted a few cars and did some street racing in my youth." Alexa confesses earning her an impressed look from Parker who holds up her hand and they high-five.
"All right. So, Penzer is a big fish in a small pond. We need to muddy up the waters. Hardison, you get us a base?"
"Yeah. Art's Auto Sales. It's a little mom-and-pop shop down the road from Penzer's. It's run by Art and Joy Bauer. They've been in the community for decades, but Penzer's running them out of business. They're on the verge of bankruptcy."
"It gets awfully wet this time of year in Payden, doesn't it?"
"And chilly."
"Yeah, don't you think the Bauers need a little sun and fun?"
"Little R&R? Mm. Mm."
Inside of Art's Auto Sales, Sophie sits across from the elder man and women who own the business. "Which is why, on behalf of the American auto dealers association, we'd like to honor you, the Bauers, with this lifetime achievement award. As part of this prize, you'll receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Tahiti!"
"Say Hawaii. The Tahitian reservation systems are for crap." Hardison quickly tells her.
"I mean Hawaii! For two whole weeks..."
"10 days."
"10 days."
"Do you know what's going on?" The husband questions leaning over to his wife.
"No. But since we've already laid off the staff, at this point, shutting down for a couple of weeks will actually save us money."
"I'll pack my Speedo."
"All right, we're in. Now what?" Hardison asks as he, Nate and Alexa sit in the apartment.
"Now? Start your engines." Nate tells them.
Hardison looks over to Alexa and smiles. "Vroom-vroom." He chuckles as the two knock fists.
"Alright, let's get this done." Nate announces as he picks up a helmet and heads for the driver's side of the car.
"Not so fast boss." Alexa grins as she cuts him off, leaning back against the driver's door. "Now, no disrespect Nate, but this is a little more my world than yours. Driving fast on the highway is one thing, but racing on a track, it's a whole different ballgame. Plus, nothing irks a man more than getting beat by a girl."
"Lexi's right Nate. Out of all of us, she and I are the most qualified. Since I'm already playing a part, she should be the one to do this." Parker states rolling out from the under the car where she was checking the oil.
Seeing as the rest of the team was in agreement with the two young ladies; Nate considered all of the options and found logic in their reasoning. "Okay." Nate smiled and tossed her the helmet. "Take him to school Alexa."
Strapping on the helmet, Alexa climbed into the driver's seat of the bright orange muscle car. Firing the engine up, she put it into gear and headed out onto the track. A wide smile spread across her lips as she stomped on the gas, feeling the tires break loose and squeal as she took off from the starting line.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Payden, Massachusetts' very own Duke Penzer now coming into pit row." The announcer reported as Penzer pulls up to end of track where the official was awaiting him with his lap time.
"One minute, 10.36."
"Not too bad considering I got loose in turn three. Still a track record."
"Not exactly."
"What are you talking about? That was half a second faster than my last run."
"Both times were just beaten."
"Somebody beat my record? Who?" He demands just as Alexa flies past him in the Challenger with a "Yee-haw!"
"What was his time?"
"He beat your record by... 15 seconds."
"What? That's impossible!"
"It is? Oops." Hardison comments from the pit as he hits keys on his laptop.
"Damnit Hardison!" Alexa snaps from the car. "I told you not to mess with anything, I beat his time easily without your help."
Quickly the numbers change on the hand held the man is holding, he blinks his eyes rapidly trying to focus as if he was seeing things. "Uh, I... oh, I meant 1.5 seconds. Uh, sorry. I must've read that wrong."
"You think?" He snaps sarcastically, and his annoyance only intensifies as he sees the driver climb out of the car and remove the helmet revealing long brown hair. "A woman? You gotta be kidding me."
Nate comes running up to her clapping as she shakes out her hair and leans against the side of the car. "Ah, that was hotter than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! Nice job honey." He says proudly before he turns to see Penzer staring at them. "Whoo! Hey, there, junior. Ahh! What's with the jammies?"
"What do you got in that thing, a supercharger?" Penzer asks clearly admiring more than just the car; as his eyes rove over Alexa's skintight red leather pants and black tank top.
Before Alexa can barely open her mouth, Nate quickly answers for her. "Oh, hell, I don't know. My guys just picked this up somewhere. I just figured I'd let my little girl here kick the tires. What's that... a matchbox car?" Nate comments as Sophie walks up and leans against Penzer's car trying to get his attention.
"You know for a guy at the track, you don't know much about cars do ya?" Penzer retorts clearly suspicious of them.
Alexa can see that they're losing Penzer, which would tank their whole job, so she quickly interjects using Penzer's clear attraction to her advantage. "65 Shelby Cobra, 427, original am I right?" She said in her sugar-sweet southern twang, strutting over and running her fingers over the front fender.
"You are correct. How'd you know?" Penzer smirked licking his lips as he sidled up next to her.
"Man like you would never own a kit car. And to answer your question, yes there's a supercharger, cold air intake, 700 pounds of torque and horsepower at the tires."
"Lot a power for such a tiny thing." He said looking her up and down.
"I like power, the more the better."
"Alright, that's enough." Nate says coming up and separating the two, moving Alexa back over towards the Challenger. "What do you think, darlin'?" He asks looking over to Sophie.
"I think I want to go now."
"Go? W-we just got here." He stated walking toward Penzer's car. "I'm asking you if you think I should buy these wheels."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Veronica's not for sale."
"Veronica"? So Betty was the fast one. Who knew?" Nate joked.
"Look, mister, uh..."
"Lucas. A.J. Lucas."
"Well, I don't know who you think you are..."
"Well, I'll tell you what - I think I'm the father of the girl that just broke your track record, if I'm not mistaken."
"One good time trial don't make you a racer." Penzer said giving a mocking smile to Alexa. "No offense sweetheart."
"None taken. Tell you what, how 'bout you and I mix it up. One on one, just the two of us." Alexa said with a sugar sweet smile.
"Yeah how bout it son? But we're gonna do it old school, all right? She wins, I get your car. You win, you get my car. Plus, um... (Looks over at Sophie) other considerations. I doubt you could handle either."
"Green flag, 15." Penzer says before he pushes past Nate. "Excuse me. Todd!"
"Yes, Mr. Penzer?" The official asks as he and Penzer walk away.
"Run along, Todd."
"You sure you can do this?" Nate asks Alexa.
"It hurts that you doubt me." She replies back with a grin. "One lap, you'll have a brand new car."
"All right, I changed the compression on the pistons and opened up the valves. Should get about another 75 H.P."
"I think the left bank is running a little lean, Eli." Alexa says leaning under the hood next to him.
"I tweaked that. Head looks good on the flux. You'll get a better burn on your fuel."
Nate nods in acceptance turning to the blonde-haired thief. "How's, uh, the rest of your research coming?"
"Good. I found out a bunch of the local thieves work for a guy named Lefty."
"You know how to find him?"
"I got some ideas."
"Okay, well, when we're done here, that'll be your priority - infiltrate their gang. Hardison?"
"All right. Now, look, man, I just installed this." Hardison says showing Alexa the small button on the dash. "You punch it to release an oxidized chemical into the engine. It's my own little mix. It's kind of like nitrous but three times the kick."
"Yeah. It's gonna turn your manifold into pudding, so don't use it too soon." Eliot warns her, before he sees the look Nate gives him. "Hey, man, I'm serious." He turns back shoving a finger towards Alexa's face. "Don't mess my car up."
"Eli I won't even need it. But in the off chance I do, I will personally replace the manifold myself. Okay darlin'?" She said giving him a light kiss on his cheek. He rolled his eyes with a grumble, but nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I have faith in Alexa." Nate stated. "But just in case, we still got to find a way to slow down Penzer."
"I got you covered..." Hardison announces holding up something akin to a space-age ray gun. "E.M.P. Cannon. It emits a focused electromagnetic pulse that'll knock out all the electronics in his car for 30 minutes. Eliot?"
Eliot takes out a remote control and begins running a small car through the area. Hardison points the gun at it and the car stops.
"This chick is toast. Now, I installed one next to your rear exhaust. It's the only place I could put it where it wouldn't affect your car as well." He explains to Alexa.
"All right, you show her how to trigger it." Nate tells him.
"She don't. I do. I'll hit him from right here. All I need you to do is get in front of Penzer, line up so I can get a clear shot. He'll just think he stalled. 30 minutes, his car is good as new."
"All right. Let's do it." Nate says clapping his hands.
"Let's go." Alexa says climbing into the car as the others get ready to push it.
"You didn't get that, man? "This chick is toast"? It's... it's "Ghostbusters." Hardison badgers Eliot who scowls shaking his head.
"Man, I don't listen to you."
"Come on, man. "Don't... don't cross the streams"? It's classic."
"Push the car, man."
"That all you got?!"
"Nimble little minx isn't she?" Alexa commented from the driver's seat.
"That's my girl!" The hacker exclaims reaching in to high-five her. "Least somebody knows the classics."
"You got this. Be safe." Eliot tells his brunette flame with a pat on the door as she straps on her helmet.
"Thanks Eli." She said taking a deep breath before firing the car up and approaching the starting line. Penzer lines up at the starting line next to her, engines revving and tires squealing as they get the green flag and take off. They stay neck and neck for several moments, Alexa giving Penzer a wide smile as she glances over at him. "That all you got?"
Not wanting to be beaten by a girl, Penzer downshifts and darts ahead of her, managing to stay ahead through the turns.
"Lexi, you gotta get in front of him, girl."
"I'm working on it Alec, I gotta at least give him a chance of winning." She states as she paces herself and tries to dodge around the outside. As she suspected from his reputation at the track, Penzer cuts her off driving defensively and taking away her line. "Cheating SOB ain't ya?" She comments this time trying to cut to the inside, but he again takes away the line, this time she has to back off as he comes close to hitting Eliot's car.
"That's how we're gonna play it? Okay." She wanted to beat him straight up, but seeing as he wasn't playing fair, why should she? Waiting for the right opening she presses the button igniting the boost Hardison installed and drives right around Penzer. "See ya!"
From the pit Hardison triggers the E.M.P. on his computer.
Alexa looks into the rearview seeing Penzer's car begin to rapidly fall back as it loses power. "Nice shot Alec."
"What... what's going on here? Come on!" Penzer shouts slamming his fists against the steering wheel.
Alexa continues on to win the race. She waits at the finish line with Nate as Penzer's car is pushed up. "Hey, I'll send my guys to pick up the car. Rookie mistake." Nate laughs directing Alexa to head off to the pits. "All right. The mark is primed. Hardison, Parker, go find this lefty. Everyone else, let's go steal us some cars."
Penzer stormed through the front doors of his dealership, he was still livid having watched his precious Veronica being trailered away a day earlier; the sight that met him inside of the building only made his anger worse. The place is completely empty of patrons and all of the salesmen are watching a game on TV.
After asking why the place wasn't packed on a Saturday, one of the salesmen informs him that they are all at Art's dealership. Penzer is then handed a flyer from Art's that reveals they are auctioning off his Shelby Cobra in a raffle.
Alexa is with Eliot in the garage bay working to install a new manifold in the Challenger as promised. She glances up from the engine block as she sees a black SUV roll up outside, Penzer and Todd climbing out and heading for the front doors. Reaching up she taps the comms in her ear, "Penzer's on site, show time Nate."
Shock and awe are written on Penzer's face as he walks into the dealership and sees the massive amount of customers looking to buy cars. "Look at this. There's no way he's making money."
"Well, prices are only part of it. He's got a new salesperson who's unstoppable." Todd informs his boss.
"Who?" He questions. Todd points across the room at Sophie. "Wait. I know her. Yeah. She was at the track."
Nate opens his office door and peeks out. "All right, Sophie. You're up."
"Look. She's going after Mr. Carey now." Todd says laughing knowing Mr. Carey was no more than a lookie-loo. "That ought to cool her off."
Sophie approaches the man who quickly waves her off. "Before you say anything, I don't need any help. I'm just looking."
"Of course. I'm not gonna bother you. I just... I just have one little question, huh? Atkins or South Beach?"
"What?"
"What diet are you on? Cause I can see your, uh, your belt is cinched too tight and your shirt is a size too big. You've lost what, five, six pounds recently?"
"Seven, actually."
"Ah! Seven! Wow! Congratulations. That is quite an achievement."
"Thank you."
"That requires so much discipline, you know?" Sophie coos leaning back on the car. "Ooh. Denying yourself all that sweet food, all those tasty treats..." She seductively caresses the car drawing his eyes to her hands.
Inside the sales office Eliot is watching her on the monitor with Nate and Alexa. "Now, you see her touch the car when she says "sweet" and "tasty"? She's making him link those values to the car." Nate explains to the hitter.
Eliot scowls as he remembers just how good Sophie is with the power of suggestion. "Neurolinguistics programming."
"Works every time." Alexa says tossing him a wink, then laughing as he shoots her a glare.
"Mnh-mnh. No. I couldn't do it. I couldn't deny myself such pleasure. You know, for me, life is about seizing opportunities, you know? Live life to the fullest. Drink too much wine. Skinny-dip in the ocean. Make love in a hammock. Do you know why... just as an example - why driving this car is like making love to a beautiful woman?"
"Because I've never done either before in my life?"
"What? A cute guy like you? Well, now is your chance. Just... just take a look. Who knows where it might lead?"
"I tell you, if Sophie did this full time, the auto industry's troubles would disappear." Nate comments smirking.
Penzer watches in confusion as Sophie puts a contract on the top of the car and hands Mr. Carey a pen. "Is he signing a contract?"
"I think he is. I think he's crying." Todd says equally confused.
Nate enters the room from the office, "Hey! There... there's the stall-out king himself. How you doing?"
"Whatever. I came back here to buy Veronica."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'm not gonna get rid of my trophy."
"I'll give you $150,000 for her."
"Please. How about $300,000?"
"$300,000?! That's ridiculous! You didn't even win the car, your daughter did! Be reasonable."
Eliot approaches them conversing in Spanish on a cell phone. "Bueno. Claro que si. Uno momenta, por favor." He walks in between Penzer and Todd to Nate. "Pardon."
"What is it, Skeeter?"
"Mr. Lucas, I think you should take this call. It's our... foreign friends."
"All right."
"Uno momenta." Eliot says quickly before he hands Nate the phone.
"Si?" Nate says taking the call as Sophie approaches him with a clipboard. "AJ, I need you to sign off on this paperwork."
"Not now, hon. I'm busy."
"No, no, no. The customer's ready to write the check."
"Now, d-d-did I hire you to look pretty or ask stupid questions?" Nate retorts before he slaps Sophie's ass. "Come on, now. Move on." He directs his attention back to the phone. "Si. Si."
Sophie walks away looking angry and Penzer grins wickedly. "He stole my baby. I think I know how to steal his."
Penzer and Todd walk out. Nate hangs up his phone and turns to look at Sophie, who rejoins him. "Could've done without the ass slap."
"Yeah, just trying to sell the bit. Sorry. Hardison, Parker, balls in your court."
While Parker and Hardison infiltrate the car theft ring, Sophie is invited to Penzer's Auto to meet with him; where she confesses to him how AJ goes about getting the cars and how he can offer such deals on them. With a few hints from her, Penzer concludes that Nate is selling hot cars.
"All right. Good. He's figured out the first part of the equation. All right, Eliot, give him the rest." Nate reports over the comms.
"Yeah, I'm making the call now." The hitter replies as both he and Alexa sit in his truck outside of Penzer's dealership. "Hello, officer? Yes, ma'am. I'd like to report some unsavory characters wandering around downtown. Yeah, I... they - they had tattoos, and I think they were wearing gang colors, and, uh... and I'm pretty sure they were speaking Spanish. Yeah, I-I saw them walking around down by Penzer's Auto. Yes, ma'am. O-okay."
Eliot hangs up the phone and picks up a baseball bat; with a sexy wink and grin to Alexa he exits the truck and enters the lot, swinging the bat. Alexa sits in the truck smiling as she watches Eliot demolish several of the cars; headlights, taillights, windows, glass shattering then raining down on the concrete. She licks her lips as he heads back to the truck, his bad boy side making her want to jump him in the front seat.
Inside the building Penzer is trying to convince Sophie to come work for him, when they suddenly hear alarms go off in the lot. Penzer gets up and looks out the window, "Oh, son of a... What the..." They walk outside to find many windshields smashed.
"Well, this is terrible. Let me get my phone. I'll call the police." Sophie offers, but Penzer urgently grabs for her phone. "No! Don't call the police. I don't need a bunch of deputy dawgs snooping around here."
"What?! You're working the same scam as A.J. You're just like him."
"No. I am nothing like him!" Penzer states before he walks inside and pulls out his phone. "Hey, it's Duke. Get me Lefty."
At Lefty's place, Josie, a young teenage girl is giving Parker and Hardison a tour of the chop shop. She tells them that their crew can strip a car and get its parts to anywhere in the country in 24 hours. They also do VIN cloning, where they clean a hot car and get it a full set of papers in an hour. She also tells them how they take the registration and insurance from the glove box, and then use it for identity theft.
"Nate did you get all that?"
"Yes, I did."
"It's a mall of crime."
"Yes, I know. But the plan does not change."
"Look, why don't we just call the cops, huh? We've got more than enough to bust these guys."
"No, no. These guys are too careful. They'd scatter before the cops got there. Besides, closing down the shop won't nail Penzer. No, we stick to our plan. No, we catch them red-handed planning something big."
At Penzer's Auto Sophie is waiting for the mark to finish his phone call with Lefty; she can see him pacing angrily outside of his office. "Sophie, did Penzer put 2 and 2 together yet?" Nate radios to her.
"Doing the math now."
"No, no. Shut up! Shut up! I just want to know who did this." Penzer erupts.
"We picked up a call on the police scanner earlier, some gangbangers causing trouble near you." Lefty tells him.
"Gangbangers?"
"Speaking Spanish."
Penzer thinks back to earlier when he overheard Nate taking a call from someone and speaking Spanish. "It's Lucas. He's working with the Latins."
"Running the boost? The only crew who can move that kind of volume are the Salvadorans, but they're Florida."
"Well, they're branching out, you idiot."
"You mean the Salvadorans are here?"
"Yes. Yes, they're here. They're probably clearing a path for Lucas and keeping an eye on him."
"He's crazy. Salvadorans are brutal."
"Yeah. Yeah, they are. So, if Lucas were to, say... I don't know... lose one of their shipments… they probably wouldn't be too happy about that, would they?"
"Gotcha."
Penzer hangs up the phone looking accusingly at Sophie. "Your boss did this."
"Huh? No. No, no, no, no, no. A.J. is a jerk, but he wouldn't... no."
"And the question is, do you want to work for somebody who does this... or do you want to work for someone who's bringing modern business principles to the game?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Diversified products, marketing metrics, online opportunities, that is what I'm bringing to the table. I'm not talking about stickup men and strung-out joyriders. I'm taking this business to the next level."
"I want to see your operation."
"All right. First thing tomorrow. And all you got to do is tell me when Lucas' next shipment comes in."
"Tomorrow morning at the docks, nine cars, top end and very hot."
"Now... let's go finish that drink."
At Lefty's, Parker is showing Josie how to break into a car; the young girl reminds the thief of herself and she takes pity on her. Lefty comes in and informs them that they have a top order the following morning down at the docks, nine cars and it's gonna be all hands on deck.
"Nate, the hook is set." Hardison reports in.
"All right. Go and get me some bait."
At a local country club Parker breaks into a car and Hardison drives off in it; followed by Alexa breaking into another and Eliot taking it out of the lot. One by one, Parker and Hardison, Alexa and Eliot work their way through the parking lot taking cars and driving them to a car carrier parked outside. Once finished Eliot and Alexa climb into the cab and drive away.
When Parker returns to Lefty's she tries to do right by Josie, telling her not to go on the boost; she tells her that everyone is going down and she doesn't want to be anywhere near there or the shop.
Little does Parker know that Josie immediately runs to Lefty and tells him what Parker had told her. Lefty calls Penzer who shows up to the shop and asks Josie to relay exactly what Parker had said.
"That this boost tell me was trouble, and to stay clear of here."
Penzer then turns his attention to Lefty. "And then those two just showed up out of nowhere?"
"Yeah. But they know how to boost."
"This can't be a coincidence. It's Lucas. He's setting me up."
"You want us to call it off?"
"No. No, no, no, no. We can turn this around. Go down to the docks early, surprise them. Pack up the shop, 'cause they're expecting to trap us here."
"Where should we take the cars, then?"
"Bring 'em to my lot."
"And the new guys?"
"Kill them. Dump them down by the docks."
"Wait. What? Y-you don't need to do that. Just... kick them out." Josie says not believing they were going to kill her new friends.
"Just kick them out"? This isn't a tree house, sweetheart." Penzer mocks her sarcastically.
"No, but y-you don't..."
"Shut up! Do me a favor, grow a pair. This is business."
The following morning the team minus Eliot and Alexa meet up at the lot to discuss the plan. "All right, Lefty should be hitting the shipment in about an hour."
"Hour and a half. He called to push back our time." Parker informs them.
"Hmm. All right. Well, that'll give Eliot and Alexa more time to offload the cars. It'll also give you more time to bring Penzer down to Lefty's."
"And once he's there, we call the cops." Sophie says.
"And we catch Penzer, Lefty, and the crew with the stolen cars, all in the same place."
"By which point, we'll have already done the blow-off. Let's go." Nate orders as they all disperse and head out to their individual tasks.
At the warehouse Eliot pulls the truck inside, both he and Alexa climbing out as Lefty and his men approach the truck with weapons aimed at the two. "Get out of the truck." Lefty orders. Eliot gets out cautiously and Alexa slides over exiting through the same door.
"Back away from the cars. Don't want to damage the merchandise."
Eliot closes the door, brushes his hair back and moves to one side; using his arm he situates Alexa so that she's shielded between his body and the trailer.
"Toss us the keys."
Eliot scoffs and puts his hand in his pocket as he looks at the men. "You want 'em?" Eliot tosses the keys into the air, the men watch them fly. Taking advantage of the distraction Eliot hits two of the men and climbs through the car carrier as the others fire at them.
"Shit!" Alexa hollers as a round grazes her right bicep as she scrambles to the other side of the car carrier. Eliot helps her down looking at her arm in concern. "I'm fine. Let's go!" She yells taking his hand and running for the doors.
"Get them!"
They runs toward the exit as Lefty's men scramble to get around the carrier.
"They went that way! Go! Come on! Hustle! Get them!"
Eliot hides out of sight as the men walk toward him, firing. Lifting his hand he cups Alexa's face, "Stay here, I'll draw them away." Without giving her a chance to oppose, he dashes away, ducking bullets.
"Come on! Go!"
Eliot runs out in front of a car and it hits him, sending him flying into the water. Alexa gasps seeing his body airborne before it splashes down into the water; she covers her mouth trying to stay quiet as tears spring to her eyes.
Lefty and his men approach the edge of the dock and look down. "Where is he?"
"He's gone." Lefty's men are looking at the cars as he walks back into the warehouse, talking on the phone. One of his men is using a scanner on the cars to check for alarm signals. "Yeah, we got the cars."
"Good, good. They clean?" Penzer asks.
"Checking them now. Once they're done, I'll bring them to the lot. Guys will stay to handle the other loose ends."
At his dealership Penzer sits across his desk from Sophie, who is playing with a model car whilst he talks on the phone. "Great. Uh, I got something here I'm gonna need you to handle. Thank you."
He hangs up the phone and Sophie smiles at him oblivious that her life is in danger. "So I'm anxious to see this operation of yours."
"Oh, of course."
Hardison and Parker pull up to the warehouse and park. They get out and approach the building, immediately the hackers Spidey-senses go off. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Where is everybody?"
"Cars aren't even here."
"Eliot? Where are you? Lexi? You hear me?"
"Something's not right." Parker says cautiously looking around. From inside the warehouse, Lefty's men walk forward, holding guns. "Go!"
They begin running, Hardison calling out to their team lead. "Nate, we're blown!" Gunfire rings out as Parker and Hardison try to keep under cover.
At Art's, the mastermind worriedly catches just the end of Hardison's words. "What? All right, Parker, Hardison, hold tight. Alexa? Eliot?" Only static answers him. "All right, Sophie, you got to get out of there."
"Um, excuse me. I just... I just have to use the ladies' room." Sophie says politely as she stands, but Penzer pulls a gun and points it at her.
"Sit...Down."
She sits down slowly as ordered, staring at the gun, not even Nate's words in her ear making her less fearful. "Sophie, I'm on my way."
"Parker, Hardison, I need your help."
"You need some help, they's shootin', damn it!" Hardison replies back as he and Parker peek out from cover, then dash away.
At his office Penzer's phone rings, he keeps his eye on Sophie as he answers it. "Yeah. Well, handle it. Now? All right. I'll be right there." He hangs up the phone. "You... stay put." He orders Sophie before he leaves the room.
Back at the warehouse Parker and Hardison are now taking cover behind their car, glass raining down on them as the bad guys continue shooting. "You got nowhere to hide. Time's up." One of the men announces as the shooters walk around the car holding guns on them as they stand up slowly.
Sophie gets up moving for the back door, it opens as she approaches and Nate walks in. "Nate!"
Suddenly Penzer follows Nate inside pointing his gun at the two. "Nate," is it? Let's go." They all walk further into the room. "I don't know who you people are, and I don't care. I've spent my whole life beating pissants like you. Sit down!" He sits behind his desk while his prisoners take the two chairs opposite him. "Now, we're all just gonna sit here and wait for my associate, 'cause he's - he's much better at the... Mechanical stuff."
"Great rescue." Sophie mumbles.
Parker and Hardison with hands raised move toward the edge of the water, the men still holding them at gunpoint; however in the midst of danger and guns pointed at his face, Hardison smirks.
"What's so funny?"
Parker starts grinning too. The man turns around only to find a dripping wet Eliot and bloody Alexa waiting. Eliot hits him and he goes down. Alexa takes out another with a kick to the chest sending him toppling over the car hood. Eliot takes out the rest of the bad guys with a little help from Hardison and Parker.
"Nate and Sophie." Parker says knowing they needed to get to them quick.
"There's got to be another car around here somewhere." Eliot states just as a random car drives up and stops.
The young girl Josie gets out of the car, "Get in!"
"Shotgun." Hardison shouts childishly as they run to the vehicle.
"Get in the back!" Parker orders Josie as she gets in the driver's seat, Eliot, Alexa and the girl climbing into the back.
"Nate, we're on our way. Be there in 10." The hacker reports as Parker speeds them away from the dock.
Penzer is pacing when Lefty walks in. "Cars are here. Shop's closed up. Kip and the boys are mopping up down at the dock."
"Great. Take these two with you, quietly." Penzer orders Lefty, who pulls his gun and trains it on Nate. "Don't want to attract a lot of attention with all the hot cars on the lot."
"Don't worry. We scanned them. No signals coming out of them. Let's go! Get up!" Lefty barks to the hostages.
"Shall we?" Penzer asks motioning to the door, they get up and head out of the room.
"You know, I was trying to help you. You weren't supposed to tell them." Parker tells Josie as she whips the car through traffic.
"I didn't know that, and I didn't think they'd try to kill you."
Hardison looks accusingly at the thief. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. You told her?"
"I should've known. You're a menace, Parker." Eliot growls.
"What?! She deserved a chance!"
"Yeah, a chance to get us all killed!" Alexa shouted.
"Ooh. Nate's gonna kill you." Hardison comments, but his threat is nothing compared to the one Eliot tosses out. "I'm gonna kill you."
"Oh, stop whining!" Parker snaps not even a little intimidated by the hitter.
"I got hit by a car!"
"I got hit by a car." She mocks him in a high pitched voice. "Get over it!"
"I'm gonna kill her, man. I'm gonna kill her." Eliot states with near murder in his eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey! Nobody's gonna kill anybody." Hardison states trying to diffuse the situation. "Seriously, though, Nate's gonna kill you." He has to add.
"Wait, wait, wait. Who are you people?" The young girl questions looking at the four like they are insane.
"We're the good guys!" Parker shouts.
At Penzer's Auto, the group walks out of the salesroom. The car hauler is now parked outside. Nate glances down at his watch, then speaks quietly to Sophie. "Stall."
"What?"
"Stall!"
Abruptly Sophie knees him in the crotch. "You are such an idiot! I can't believe I ever listened to you! We're in this again!"
"It wasn't me! What are you yapping about?!"
"Hey! Hey! Nobody asked you!"
"Damn it! Parker, where'd you learn to drive?!" Eliot snaps as he and Alexa slam against one another.
"Before I stole cars, I was a getaway driver."
"Before? You started stealing cars when you were 12."
Flashback
Parker is driving a car recklessly, her passenger looking frantic, followed by police.
"Pull to the side of the road! Pull over!"
"Get out of the way, you old bat!"
"Get out of the way, you old bat!"
"This is what I get for trusting a drunk... a drunk!" Sophie yells berating Nate; she's both buying them time and venting her frustrations at the same time.
"No, not again! Nobody asked you..."
"I'm the one that ends up paying for it every time!"
"Hey! Shut up!" Penzer shouts as car alarms begin going off on all the cars on the hauler. "What the hell? Lefty. Take them inside. Put them in the office. Keep them quiet. I'll take care of this."
Lefty wrangles Nate and Sophie inside while Penzer pulls multiple sets of keys from his pocket and begins turning off the car alarms. Police cars pull up, sirens blazing. "Oh, damn it!" He grimaces as the cars stop, many police officers getting out. "Officers! Just a little, small snafu. It's all under control now."
"These vehicles belong to you?" An officer questions.
"Yes, they do. Just came in this morning. Perhaps I could interest you in a deal. Got a beautiful little subcom-"
"These are yours?" The officer asks again for clarification.
"Yeah. Is there a problem?"
"Yes, there is. According to the massive number of alarm tracking system signals we're receiving…" He states looking at the display. "All these cars are stolen."
"What?"
Flashback
"Don't worry. We scanned them. No signals coming out of them." Lefty assures Penzer after he and his men had dispatched Eliot.
Just before that Alexa and Eliot are standing next to the car hauler holding the E.M.P. gun. All the car alarms are going off. "So I just aim this thing at them and zap them?" Eliot questions Hardison over the comms.
"Yeah, man. They'll be good as dead for half an hour."
Eliot aims the gun at each car and one by one they fall silent. He nods impressed as he jogs back towards the truck, blowing on the EMP like it was a gun.
"You're such a dork." Alexa laughs as they climb back into the truck.
"No, no, no. There's got to be a huge mistake. I just took delivery of that shipment this morning. You know what? The guy you want is right inside. Come on." Penzer pleads with the cop as he leads them inside, but all they find is Lefty lying unconscious on the desk.
Flashback
Parker pulls car up to the back of the dealership and Eliot gets out, running for the door he hollers back over his shoulder. "Slide over!" He goes through the backdoor and they hear him say, "What's up, man?" There is the sound of a fist hitting flesh, then Sophie, Nate and Eliot exit and get into the car.
The police grab Penzer and pull him toward the door. "Check all the cars in this lot."
"No. No!" Penzer shouts struggling, he knows he'll be doing life in prison by the time all of the cars are checked out.
"Who knows what else is going on here? Come on."
"No-o-o!"
"Please be calm."
"No!"
"It'll be a lot easier for both of us." The cop says as he pulls him out the door. "Come on."
"I don't get it. I've never seen cops respond so fast to an alarm tracking signal. How'd you know they'd get here so quickly?" Josie asks after they've arrived back at Art's dealership.
"Let's just say the owners of those vehicles were highly motivated." Parker told her.
Flashback
Parker, Hardison, Alexa and Eliot stealing the cars from a golf course; that is welcoming the Massachusetts Police Union for their annual charity tournament.
"Hey, man, how come you didn't come save us when those wannabe thugs attacked?" Hardison questions Eliot.
"Cause your little zapper thing fried my earbud."
"Told you to take it out before you used it."
"Well, I was also underwater." Eliot replies angrily.
"Oh. You know, I should work on that."
"Yeah."
"Eliot, here. Make sure you bring this back with us." Nate says as he hands the hitter a life sized cutout of himself.
"I don't want this thing." Eliot states as he tosses it aside.
"So the Bauers are gonna have a little bump in business when they get back, huh?" Sophie says, happy they could help the older couple out as well as their client.
"You know, I could've done without the knee." Nate tells her.
"Just selling the bit." She says, they both turn to look at Josie talking to Parker. "Nate."
"She almost got us killed." He argues knowing what Sophie's pleading tone was about.
"Look, she thought she was doing the right thing, which means she actually thought about what the right thing might be, w-which is huge for Parker."
"Parker." Nate calls out to the young thief.
"Just go easy on her, will you?" Sophie cautions as Parker walks over hesitantly.
"I need you to help me with something."
Back in Boston at the pub the team meets up with their client Paul to deliver the good news. "So, with Penzer's arrest, all the charges against you have been dropped. And here." Nate nods to Alexa who grins tossing Paula set of car keys. "Penzer's racecar - worth about $150,000, maybe more to a collector."
"Oh, I-I can't repay this."
"No need. I won the car from him and I'm gifting it to you." Alexa says smiling.
"Uh, you know, that could go toward maybe jump-starting your landscaping business, and..." Nate says motioning over to Parker. "You might want to consider maybe hiring some new help."
Parker brings Josie over and presents her to Paul. "She's a quick study and she's eager to work."
"Paul." He says holding out his hand. The young girl takes it with a smile. "Josie."
"Thanks again." He says then turns to Josie. "All right. So, have you ever done any landscaping?" He asks as they all walk towards the door. "Not really, but like she said, I'm a fast learner, so..." With a smile to Parker, Josie and Paul exit the pub.
Nate locks the door and pulls the shade, smiling to Parker who stands next to him. "Well, you know, she's not a bad kid."
"No, she isn't."
"She's just got to be around the right people."
"Yeah. Don't we all?" Parker replies with a smile.
"So, hey, you saw me take down that guy, right?" Hardison asks her pausing his conversation with Eliot to ask her for confirmation.
"What, the little guy? Yeah."
"He wasn't little. He's pretty - pretty... he had big shoulders."
"I believe you." Sophie tells him.
"He was tiny." Parker states.
As the twosome argues Nate walks over to Eliot and Alexa who are sitting at the bar having a beer. "Hey, I want to say thank you. T-thank you, by the way."
"Why?" Eliot asks.
"For the car."
"Oh, man, any time you want to borrow it, it's yours, man. It's fa-a-a-a-st."
"No, no, no. No, any time you want to borrow it."
"No, no, it's my car." Eliot states. Alexa covers her mouth hiding her smile, she's convinced she'll start to see thick steam rolling out from Eli's ears in seconds.
"No, Hardison changed the pink slip over."
"I don't care if Hardison changed anything on the car."
"No, it's my car now."
"It's not your car, Nate."
"No, it's my car." Nate states as he heads for the back room, Eliot follows behind him still arguing.
"Hey! I drove the car, so doesn't that make it mine!?" Alexa shouts after them. She's not surprised to see Eliot whip around and point a finger at her. "Hey you hush!" Then he turns back to Nate. "And you come back here, we ain't done yet!"
The men's voices echo through the empty bar as they move upstairs, and with a devious smile Alexa leans against the bar and takes a long pull of her beer.