Nate's Apartment Leverage HQ
Eliot watched, as Parker and Sophie led Ada away from him towards the kitchen. He let out the breath he was holding onto to centre himself again.
"So Eliot how long have you and the Princess been friends?" Nate asked passing him a beer. Eliot took the beer from his friend and grinned.
"Ada and I met a couple of years ago…"
Flashback – 2005 Eschtenburg, Razkavia, Cathedral square
It appeared that all of the streets of the small capital city were packed with locals and tourists alike. Eliot was trying to hide and the small European country seem the perfect place. The whole city was decked out in European and national flags for the annual Family Day parade. A parade that the Elderly King and other members of the Razkavian Royal Family were going to be walking in. The parade held little interest to Eliot but being in a crowd was great cover he knew that Damion and his men would still be looking for him.
After what seemed like an age of dancing schoolchildren, marching bands and floats passed him and the others in the section of the crowd. He got his first glance at the Royal Family. The King, a tall man in his Seventies with greying hair and a smart day suit was arm in arm with his youngest child. She was much shorter than her father, wearing a white and gold-trimmed medieval-style dress. Her hair was plaited down her back and she wore a large flower crown. To Eliot, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She waved and smiled to the crowds who broke into a round of 'Happy Birthday' in German and English. Ada spotted him in the mass of people, their eyes meeting for a second.
Cracking pop, Eliot knew that sound. More gunshots run out bouncing and echoing around the enclosed square. The King fell to the ground. And there was screaming and chaos.
Flashback ended
"I have to hand it to you, man," Hardison interrupted Eliot's flashback. Bringing him back to the present. "A real-life Princess," Hardison playfully jabbed at him. "Brother, I did not think you had it into."
"Hardison," Eliot growled.
"Did you rescue her from a dragon?" Hardison laughed.
"I will punch you," Eliot balled up his fists.
"Alright, Man," Hardison still had a stupid grin on his face. Enjoying himself teasing his friend.
"Guys," Nate was trying not to laugh at the two younger men. He motioned for the two to sit down and continue planning.
"So how do you know Eliot?" Parker demanded turning to face Ada, giving her a hard stare.
"Parker," Sophie placed a hand on Parker's arm to calm her down.
"It's Ok," Ada, giggled. "I have known Eliot for a while. He saved my life," Parker's eyes soften. "It is great that he has you guys."
"Ok," Sophie pushed forward with what needed to be covered.
Eliot's Apartment
Eliot's apartment was a minimalist clean bright space. He had picked the place due to the kitchen. It was one of the largest rooms in the apartment with a large window with views over the Charles River. A large range-style oven, a lot of counter space and a space for a dining table. He did not normally have guests around and he normally cooked for the team at Nate's. Nevertheless, tonight he was making dinner for two. On the stove was a pot of boiling water ready for the pasta that he had just made. In the oven were some homegrown tomatoes, onions and other veg from his garden. He would have normally added a streak to this meal but Ada was a vegetarian. Therefore, he decided to keep it simple. Mediterranean vegetable pasta with a tomato and chilli sauce dish.
Ada was in his shower and he was alone. Cooking was an escape from the world. He was in control like when he fought. He throws the pasta into the pot. The shower switched off and his bedroom door opened and closed.
"It smells great," Ada, said walking into the kitchen. She was wearing one of his button-up shirts, with a towel turban wrapped around her head. His shirt dwarfed her. "I did not know you could cook."
He looked down and smiled at her feet. She was barefooted. She had painted her nails with red nail polish. "I am a man of many talents," he pulled out her chair and she sat down. Before passing her a glass of red wine.
"Danke," she thanked him pecking him on the cheek.
He turned back to the plates, plating up the pasta and pouring over the sauce.
"Here you go your highness," He leaned in close to her as he placed the plate in front of her. She smelt of his shampoo and shower gel. He smelt of sandalwood aftershave.
They started to eat. Ada hummed at the great taste of the fresh pasta.
"Do you cook all the time?" she asked.
"I mostly cook for the team and whenever it comes up on a job," Eliot said. He laughed at an early job that popped up in his mind.
"What?" Ada asked noticing the small laugh and smile on Eliot's face.
"Have I ever told you about when I catered at an Italian Mob wedding?" Ada shook her head. "It was a couple of months after the team started working together last year when we were living in LA. We were helping a wife of a wrongly accused Italian restaurateur get her husband out of jail for a mob murder," he retold the case from his point of view. Ada listened, reacting to the twists and turns of his experiences, as he wanted. "The Butcher of Kiev (Kyiv) had had me on his hit list for a while. I had met him a few years before and we had fought after we had somehow managed to set the warehouse on fire. I had injured his face with a burning piece of wood. Scarring him for life. Anyway, he cornered me in the small kitchen. He had his normal meat cleaver; I had to protect myself with the kitchen items that I could find around me. By the end of the fight he had pushed me over the kitchen island and was about to kill me. I reached out with a rolling pin and grabbed a mushroom and goat's cheese canapé with a drizzle of fresh lemon and squished it into his face. He was in so much pain that he fainted. Nate walked in and asked," Eliot put on his Nate's voice. "Did you just kill someone with a canapé?"
"Did you kill someone with a canapé?" Ada jokingly asked.
"Maybe," he joked back. Both laughed.
"Did you and the team clear the restaurateur?" Asked Ada.
"It was one of the first times we eat together as a team," Eliot said. "The Feds picked up the Mark and he was cleared and released."
"Good," Ada said taking a drink from her wine glass. "I like a happy ending," Ada sadly said most of the jokiness in her voice was gone.
"How's your head?" Eliot noticed. She shrugged. "You are going to have to tell the team about it at some point."
She sighed and placed her knife and fork together on her finished and clear plate. "Eliot I am fine," Eliot looked at her with raised eyebrows. She got up out of her chair and walked around to Eliot's chair. He watched, as she got closer to him. "You cannot save me from myself," He pulled her into a kiss. Before lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. The washing up could wait until tomorrow morning.