Eliot still held the disconnected phone in his hand as what little conversation they'd had echoed in his head.

"Moreau...what the hell have you done..."

"You took something from me, now I took something from you..."

This can't be happening.

"...fourteen to one...so far..."

The others. He needed to get to the others. He turned his attention immediately back to his phone and sent a group text.

Rendezvous point B. NOW

He grabbed his keys and was out the door, hoping to hell that he got to them before Moreau did.

.

.

.

Twenty minutes later Eliot was parked out of sight behind an abandoned storage facility, the engine running but the vehicle's lights off. He'd selected the location carefully; there was no artificial lighting and the industrial park was all but abandoned after dark. The plethora of hiding areas among the rusting equipment and shanty outbuildings made it the perfect place to stay hidden from hostile eyes.

With nothing but silence to keep him company, he thought about the team. Everything they'd been through together, everything they had. His breath hitched as he started to tremble, his mind coming to terms with what they might no longer have.

He ran a hand down his face, trying to snap himself out of it. With Nate out of play the others would mirror his emotions, be looking to him for direction. He had to get it together.

Suddenly he saw movement in the dark, quickly identifying friend versus foe. The two doors behind him opened in unison as Sophie, Parker, and Hardison quietly entered the back of the vehicle.

He counted his lucky stars that everyone was there. Almost everyone.

Eliot started to speak the moment the doors slammed shut. "Listen guys, we got a problem..."

"Where's Nate?" Sophie interjected, immediately taking notice of the empty seat next to the hitter.

Eliot closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to center himself, but the possible answers running through his head were anything but good. I got him killed, I failed the team, I didn't do my job and he paid the ultimate price… Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to tell them?

Sophie prodded him back into reality, unable to keep the concern from her voice. "Eliot..."

"I don't know," he blurted out, harsher than he had intended. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, hoping that the darkness surrounding them would mask his shaking hands from the others. His statement wasn't untrue, and for now he felt that it was best to share the absolute minimum until he could better assess the situation.

"Eliot," Hardison urged, breaking the hitter out of his thoughts. "What's going on?"

He glanced in the rear view mirror, seeing the hacker's eyes wide with fear. Parker was despondent, and Sophie looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. They were all looking to him for answers, and right now he didn't have much of any to give. He took another deep breath as he addressed himself mentally.

Get. It. Together.

He spoke softer this time. "Moreau called me from Nate's apartment, from Nate's phone..." He trailed off, unsure how to continue as his thoughts haunted him again. There was no good way of sugar-coating what Moreau had told him. The car was quiet.

This time it was Parker that broke the silence, her voice small. "What did he say?"

Eliot took another slow breath, getting an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu from their discussion in the park after the team had found out that he'd worked for Moreau.

"Don't ask me that, Parker."

He chose to take the political route and answer the question he wished she'd asked instead. He kept it brief. "We need to get to Nate's."