It was strange to watch Angel sleep. The first few nights she had stayed with him it had scared her; no heartbeat, no respiration, and he was cold to the touch. Now it was just strange. Nothing had been settled between them the night before, but she couldn't think about that now. There was too much at stake.
She was glad Angel had been able to sleep because she hadn't. She left him in bed shortly before dawn and crept into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. There was so much riding on today. She was going to go to work to find chaos and she would be questioned because she was with Hardwick last night; fortunately, Hardison had made her alias bulletproof after getting back to his hotel room and Parker had inadvertently provided her with an alibi.
Angel had cast the spell again. He was going to need back up and she was going to have to do double duty until Eliot was able to take over. She hoped it would be enough. She couldn't afford to let Eliot down.
She put in the earbud as she sat drinking her coffee. "Anyone awake?" She asked.
*I'm here,* Nate's voice. He was tired she could tell.
"Why am I not surprised you're the one still awake," She said with a smile.
*Sent Alec and Sophie to bed. No guarantees on them being asleep,* he said with a faint laugh.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sober?" She asked. Too much at stake and they didn't know half of what they were going against. She felt like she was using them, but there was no way they could all find out about it all. Eliot could tell them later if he thought they could handle it, but she doubted he would do that to them either.
*I am now.*
"Good. Did we get everything we need?"
*Yes,* there was a pause, *Tara are you alright?* He asked and she smiled a little.
"I will be. It's been a hell of a ride the last few days. I'm tired."
*You're scared.*
"Worried," She corrected. "I've played for high stakes before, but this ... It never involved someone I cared about before. Angel's right. I've gone soft since I worked with you guys."
*Nothing wrong with that,* he said. *You know the white hat fit you pretty well there for a while.*
"This job. it's still white.*
*What is all of this about?* Nate asked. *It's just you and me here. Why did she kidnap Eliot and don't tell me it's because he looks like a former employee? It's bigger than that. Lawyers are a dime a dozen and Wolfram and Hart are supplying the dimes.*
She was silent.
*Tara, you aren't the only one that cares about Eliot. I deserve to have answers since I'm the one that's going to be putting the pieces back together, not you.*
"You always aim below the belt?" She asked.
*When it comes to my people yes. You should know that. You're one of them.*
She smiled a little at that. She supposed he would come for her too if she needed help. But was telling them the truth really what they needed? Was it helping? "Alright," She said. "Think gangs or tribes or any other territorial pissing contest you can imagine," Tara said. "And they've been using the law firm to handle their disputes for a long time. Lindsey McDonald was their go-to guy. The one with all the secrets tucked away in his head."
*Alright.*
"Now imagine that the firm not only doesn't have McDonald anymore but arranged to have him killed. The gangs show up expecting help and for it to come from the one guy they've trusted."
*Since he's not there Morgan figures that the mercenary she has been blackmailing all these years fits the bill.*
"Right," Tara said. "And if we don't follow through with the negotiations it's going to be nasty blood war all across Los Angeles; if we are damned lucky it will only be Los Angeles. "
*Is Eliot in any condition to handle that kind of pressure?*
"You know Eliot. He will be whether he is or not."
Nate chuckled, *There's some truth to that. Are you going to need us before the negotiations?*
"No Angel and I have it covered. We'll need you in the morning; when we make sure they never touch him again."
*I'll be there. Don't worry about that. I still think there is a lot you aren't telling me.*
"You're right," she said. "Some things you just have to accept Nate. Get some sleep. I'm headed into the office. I'll keep an ear out for Parker."
Tara left the Hyperion and took a taxi to work. Somehow she didn't think she had anything to worry about that morning.
Parker had kept the entire building hopping. The only time they got a reprieve was when she went to look in on Eliot. She stopped her assault shortly after dawn and made her way over to Eliot's cell once more.
She lifted the tile over the bathroom and heard the water running. She dropped her head down and smiled, excitement and relief in her features. "You're awake!" She said lowering herself into the cramped room.
Eliot jumped in surprise. "Parker!" He said and barely got the door closed before she pounced on him. "You're," He paused as she squeezed him tight "not on happy pills again are you?" He asked in a hushed tone.
She shook her head and slowly eased off of him, although there wasn't any room to step away from him. "I saw what they did to you. Are you hurt still?" she asked and started looking him over.
He batted her hands away, although to be honest he loved it. It was just surreal enough that somehow it seemed real when he had been about to doubt his connection with reality. "Parker quit it. I'm fine," He said finally getting her delicate wrists in his hands. "I'm fine. You should get out of here before they catch you," He said.
"Tara and some guy named Angel are getting you out of here today," She said. "And I've been playing all night. Lilah doesn't like Metallica."
"What did you do?" Eliot asked eyes wide. Had Nate let someone as crazy and vengeful as Parker loose on Wolfram and Hart without a leash?
She just smiled. "I have to go. Once you are out of here the power goes off and I need to keep watch. Boost up?"
Eliot put his hands around her small waist and hefted her up through the ceiling tile.
"I could get you out now. Nate's okay with that. We have what we need to make them leave you alone," Parker offered.
Eliot shook his head. "No. We'll go with Tara's plan," He sighed. "Seriously, I've been through worse. A few more hours is nothing." They exchanged severe disbelieving looks until Eliot eventually rolled his eyes. "Go on," He said. "And be careful. "
He helped her put the ceiling tile in place. "And don't kill anyone," He said in a hoarse whisper. "Leave that to me," He said in a hushed tone for no one but himself.
"Spencer, let's go," Hardwick said from the cell door.
Eliot's jaw twitched but he took a deep breath and took a moment to get the urge to pound the man into so much hamburger out of his system and slip into the downcast prisoner façade; just one more day. He could do one more day. He pulled his shirt on and walked out into the cell as he buttoned it up. He pulled on the suit coat and tied his hair back, intentionally taking his time.
"Today's the day," Hardwick said."You ready for it?"
Eliot shrugged. "Guess we'll see, won't we."
They took the stairs up again. The IT people had discovered that it was a virus in the system that had been causing the havoc but hadn't figured out how to get rid of it yet without wiping every hard drive in the building. It was all Eliot could do not to throw his head back and laugh. He was going to take Hardison out and get him blind stinking drunk over this one.
Tara was seated at her desk when he got to the office. Two new guards stood close to the door.
"Ms. Morgan wants to see you," A particularly young-looking guard said to Hardwick. Eliot thought he looked more like a Happy Days reject than a black ops soldier for evil; which meant he was probably the worst of the lot around this place. Every day was opposite day it seemed. "There's been a change in plans. We're supposed to escort Mr. McDonald to his client's establishment."
Tara suppressed a smile. Angel had done it. Perfect.
Hardwick excused himself, smiling at Tara. "I'll talk to you later."
She nodded to him and smiled girlishly back at him, then rolled her eyes once he was gone, which got laughter from the guards at the door.
Hardwick knocked on Lilah's door and was told to enter with a sharp tone. "You wanted to see me. what happened to you? You look like hell."
Lilah arched an eyebrow. "Sit down Kevin," She said as she leaned against her desk.
He knew that there was something up when she used his first name. Lilah was only ever informal with people she was banging or looking to kill. Since he wouldn't ever consider hooking up with the Ice Queen, there must be something else going on and it wasn't in his favor. He took a seat and locked gazes with the woman. Now wasn't the time to show fear.
"It seems that someone was manipulating the system yesterday," She said.
"That's hardly surprising considering what has been going on."
"No, that part wasn't surprising at all," Lilah agreed. "I do have to admit that I was surprised to find that they were using your security code to do it. "
"That's not possible," He said blanching a little. "You can bring the readers in here and they can tell you I wasn't involved."
"That's just the problem, Kevin. You see I've had them out this morning after we traced the location the signal was coming from and we received a fair amount of information from the manager of a bar just two blocks from here. It seems you were there last night with Ms. Chapel."
"We had a couple of drinks," He said with a shrug. "Coincidences do happen, Ms. Morgan."
"Not when we find the computer in the garbage out back with your fingerprints on it; when the manager saw you with it in your hands. "
"That wasn't mine," He said. "Some woman dropped it in my lap after she practically stumbled over our table. You can ask Tara. I wasn't using a laptop. I was paying attention to her the whole time."
"I did. And it seems that she didn't see you with the laptop until just before she left the bar. She did leave the room to talk to her sister. You weren't in her sight the entire time. "
"You don't seriously believe this. "
Lilah pressed a button under the lip of her desk and smiled as two of Hardwick's men entered the room. "See that Mr. Hardwick is settled securely in a room until this investigation is completed." Not that it would end well either way. Either he was a traitor or an idiot; neither was a good trait for a chief of security.
She took a long deep breath and called her secretary. "Cancel my appointments for this morning and hold all of my calls. I'm going up to my apartment for a while." A nap, a shower, and clean clothes would be enough to get her through the rest of the day.
She took the elevator up and stepped through the entry and found herself nose-to-nose with Lindsey McDonald. She knew it the moment she looked into his eyes; this wasn't Eliot Spencer with a haircut and a manicure.
"Good morning, Lilah."
"Lindsey." She didn't have to ask how, there was only one way he could be standing there breathing at her.
"Why don't you have a seat? I've got a message to deliver and I'm pretty sure you want to be seated when I do."
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Tara looked at the clock and excused herself, "I probably won't be back before you leave, so. good luck... or... whatever," She said to Eliot, and nodded to the guards as she headed down to the parking garage. Parker still had control of the video feed so no one would see them there.
She smiled at Angel as she got into the car to change clothes. "He should be down any minute." She said. "Hand me that," She snatched her shirt out of Angel's hands and pulled it on. She was starting to think this was going to be over soon. "He looks better." she slid a pair of jeans on and pulled her skirt off, tossing it into the bag with the blouse she had been wearing.
"Good. He's going to need to be," Angel said and got out of the car. He nodded to his son who had taken up position as well.
"Connor's in town?" She asked, surprised to see him there.
"Stanford's not that far away," Angel answered. He had called his son in not so much for backup but to get Tara to safety once they got to the underground. He didn't want her anywhere near the negotiations.
Eliot was led out of the building and into the parking garage by four guards. Angel nodded once more to his son. "You get Eliot to the car, leave the other guys to Connor and me. If it goes south, which it won't, you get your boy out of town."
Tara let Angel take the lead and lagged behind. Angel and Connor converged with superhuman speed and two guards went down before they had a chance to do anything more than yell in surprise.
Eliot slammed his head into the face of the guard to his left that attempted to pull him into the van. A quick right hook follow-through put the man on the ground. He kicked the last guard in the chest sending him backwards and into Connor's fist.
"You're getting slow in your old age, Dad," Connor teased. "Eliot and I got three while you tangled with one."
"Mine was a demon," Angel protested good-naturedly. "Besides it took two of you to get three, that doesn't count."
"Excuses," Eliot said grinning, feeling lighter than he had in days.
"Exactly," Connor said.
"Are you boys through measuring yet?" Tara asked holding open the door of the car. "We have an appointment to get to if I'm not mistaken. "