The Stork Job

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"There you go," Danielle handed Eliot the ice pack. "She got you real good, didn't she?"

"How was I supposed to know?" Eliot pressed the ice pack on his cheek.

"Well—there were only women in the bar, that should have clued you in." Danielle retorted.

"What were you doing there anyway?" Eliot started toward the conference room.

"I was on a date but I don't think it's gonna go anywhere." She shrugged.

"Why?"

"She hates bi-women." She pushed out a sigh, before taking a seat next to Parker.

"So, Irina let Luca stay with the Mortons for a week." Nathan gestured to the picture on the screen, "that's when this was taken."

"What happened to the boy afterwards?" Sophie questioned him.

"Don't know. A car came along, picked him up, took him away." Nate explained, sitting down next to Danielle.

"Are we seriously considering this, huh?" Eliot asked, "swiping a kid?"

"Yeah, well—" Nate stopped midsentence when he saw the bruises on Eliot's face. "What happened to you?"

Eliot leaned over, "well, how was I supposed to know it was a lesbian bar?" Nate huffed out a laugh.

"Okay, listen—money, jewels, paintings—those we steal." Sophie interrupted them. "But a little boy?"

"Clearly, they're using the boy to get money from people who are desperate to adopt." Danielle remarked. "Also, isn't that what we do? Helping people who has nowhere else to go."

"No records, no paper trails." Hardison turned to Nate. "We're supposed to find one orphan."

"How do we even know this is an orphan?" Eliot questioned.

"See him pocketing those cookies?" Parker pointed to the screens. "He's hoarding food. That bag on the table—he keeps his essentials light and portable." Danielle turned to look at Parker. "He knows he's gonna be taken away at any moment. And there, when she goes to touch him, he flinches. He's expecting—for her to—" She cut herself off. "Trust me. He's an orphan."

Danielle turned to the others in the room, she let out a deep breath. "Nate." Hardison said.

"Hit it."

"Irina Larenko." The picture of a blonde woman came on screen. "Former Russian model, she had a decent career in the '80s. She did the whole Paris fashion circuit. Uh, she had some parts in some small films."

"Really? Like? What films?" Sophie asked excitedly.

"Some—French films." Hardison replied, making Danielle frowned at him, in annoyance.

"Like what?" She insisted.

" Emmanuelle Unleashed."

"She was Tatiyana." Eliot exclaimed. "Yeah, this is when they rebooted the franchise."

"Oh my god!" Danielle groaned.

"That's right—Emmanuelle at the space station who rides the controls." Nate continued.

"FYI," Danielle called to Hardison. "Not all French films are—erotica. And the reboot was clearly American." Eliot and Nate looked at her, stunned and amused at her small outburst. "I got curious, okay? Har—Har—Hardison."

"Anyway, she started living a little too hard." Hardison continued. "She fell in with some Russian mobsters. She wound up grifting her way through Europe. She ended in Belgrade a few years ago."

"All right, what's the adoption scam?" Eliot asked him.

"Okay, so, you're looking to adopt a kid, right? You log on to a legitimate adoption website." He gestured to the screen, where the fake site was on display. "You follow one of the links on the side, it leads you to Irina. Now, she just shows you a bunch of pictures, strings you along a little bit, and she hits you up for some money." Hardison explained.

"Yeah, it's just like the Spanish Prisoner scam." Sophie commented.

"And then she hooks you until she bleeds you dry." Nate nodded.

"Yeah, but how does she get the kids?" Parker questioned.

"After the war, there was, what, 100 000 orphans in Serbia," Hardison said. "She could be getting them from anywhere."

"Where's Irina now?" Eliot asked.

"Well, she closed her office in Belgrade after the incident with the Mortons. However—her name popped up on an invitation to a party at the American embassy next week—very exclusive."

"Alright. We're gonna do this the old-fashioned way—a little look and hook. Pack your bags. We're going to Belgrade." Nate stood up to leave.

"Hey," Sophie stopped him, "can we stop off in Paris on the way?"

"Uh—maybe on the way back."

"Cool," Sophie stood up excitedly.

There was one thing that Danielle hated more than anything, children being used and abused by adults. When adults were supposed to protect and defend them. Of course, she would readily jump at the occasion at saving at least one of them. Especially, when this boy already had parents who wanted him more than anything.

Danielle stepped into the embassy at Eliot's arm, her long red locks were let down her back. A side slit revealed her right leg, right above her freckled thigh. Parker was in with them as a server, which Danielle would have much rather prefer over than being a socialite. She stood on the side, observing the people while Eliot was chatting up a group of beautiful women. So many important people, she wondered how Irina even got an invitation to one of those events.

"Do you have eyes on Irina?" Nate asked through the coms.

"Yes, and she is with someone," Parker answered.

Danielle moved closer to Eliot and Parker, "That never stopped me before."

"Get me a picture," Nate ordered them as Parker moved away from them.

"You know, this would be easier if you were in here," Danielle commented as Eliot took the picture.

"Well, we would be if Sophie weren't already old friends with the ambassador," Nate reminded them.

"I wouldn't say 'old friends' exactly," Sophie added. "I still have that tiara, though."

Eliot turned to the ginger at his left, as she sipped on her drink. His eyes roamed over her frame, his eyes took in the sight of her shapely leg and her curves, her freckled shoulders.

"You know, she doesn't know what she's missing out on," Eliot told Dani suddenly.

"What?" She turned to him confused.

"Your date," Eliot clarified.

"Oh," she nodded. "Well, nice of you to say," Dani stared at him longingly, before shrugging one of her shoulders. "But I'm used to it by now," and looked away from him.

"Hey, Parker, I need you to lift his wallet. We need more info," Nate's voice came on the comms.

"Eliot, get ready to meet Irina," Sophie said. " I'll give you your cues."

"You know, I have picked up women before, alright? Like yesterday," Eliot reminded her.

Sophie hummed, " yeah, and we can all agree that, um—"

"Dagmar," Nate cut in.

" Dagmar from the car-rental place was a lovely girl, but listen, Irina's a professional grifter," Sophie continued. "She's gonna see straight through your moves. She does this for a living. You know, gets people to like her and trust her, even to fall in love with her. She doesn't do this for sport."

"Sounds like someone I know," Nate commented.

Eliot had left Danielle's side to go talk to Irina. Parker was still roaming the reception with a silver platter, looking for Irina's accomplice.

"Found him," she heard Parker said on the comms.

"Okay, Parker, don't panic. Just having a little conversation," Nate reassured her.

Danielle moved closer to Parker's spot to keep an eye on her, and Eliot who was currently chatting up Irina.

"And who has come to shame the splendor of Belgrade with her beauty?" Nicolas asked Parker, flirting.

"Are you kidding me?" Hardison exclaimed.

"Hardison!"

Danielle shook her head, annoyed at the situation that was slowly getting out of their control. "Oh, do my fangs and cape frighten you?" The hacker mocked Nicolas.

"Hardison, keep quiet," she admonished him.

She observed Parker quietly, as the latter was fumbling through her conversation with Nicolas. She saw the shift in Parker's stance. The blonde thief stared into the distance, her back tensing up as though she was ready for a fight.

"I think we're gonna have a problem," Danielle warned the others. Seconds after the words left her mouth, Parker seized a fork and stabbed Nicolas in the shoulder. "Shit!"

It certainly caused as Nicolas called for help from his security. Everyone looking at him, panicking, starting to call for the police. The thief jumped over the balcony, fleeing the scene.

"Where's Parker?" Nate asked both Danielle and Eliot as soon as they stepped into the borrowed office.

"How the hell should we know?" Eliot groaned, untying his bowtie.

"I should have done something," Dani huffed in frustration, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Like what?" Eliot looked down at her.

"I don't know," she shook her head. "And now, we just don't know where she is."

"Can't reach her on the comms," Hardison came to stand next to Danielle. "She slipped the security grid at the embassy."

"Where could she be?" Sophie asked worriedly.

"This is Parker we're talking about," Hardison replied. "She could be halfway across Europe by now. Trust me, she is gone."

"Who is gone?" Parker asked on Sophie's right. All heads turned to her. "What?" Dani let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"So, Irina's expecting to be in a movie. What do we do now?" Sophie questioned.

"Now?" Nate replied, "we steal a movie."

With her red curls down, Dani gracefully moved around the movie set the team had somehow acquired. A few tricks here and there, all pulled by Hardison, allowed them to use this set to fool Irina. And hopefully, get Luca back.

Her headset in place, she leaned over Nate, both reading pages of the script before being interrupted. The Wardrobe PA was showing different options of shirt for a scene.

"What?" Nate asked her. "You're showing me a couple of shirts. I don't know what—Dale? Dale?" He started to call as Eliot and Irina arrived on set. "What—what is this?"

"Jack!" Eliot greeted him, "not now, sweetheart. What did I say last time?" He gently dismissed her,

"What do you got?" Nate asked him.

"Irina Larenko," Eliot introduced their mark. "This is Jack Lindsey, he's the director."

"Ah, let me see what you got," Nate said and Irina did a little twirl. "Uh-huh! Let me see what you got. The other way."

Irena kept turning around, laughing excitedly while Nate and Eliot kept talking over each other.

"Yeah, good laugh," Nate finally said. "Good, good laugh. Okay."

"Here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking—the mother," Eliot suggested.

"No. No, no, no, no," the director shook his head. "You know what I'm thinking? The mother!"

"So, um, I-I-I will be a mother, yes?" Irina asked them.

"Yes! Yes. Very, very exciting part. We just need to get you a script, all right?" He turned to Parker, and called, "Klinka! Klinka! Klinka!" She came over. "Uh, come here. I want you to get, uh, Irina here a script," he pulled the cup she was sipping from out of her hands. "Okay? And, um, something, um—maybe to, um—do you want some coffee or water or—? Cold or room temperature?"

"Yes, yes." Irina stuttered out.

"Yes, both, both, both. Go, go, go. Okay."

Parker left as Danielle, Eliot and Nate spoke with Irina, letting her know about the movie. Not that it was a great movie to be honest. Low budget, soldiers being attacked by werewolves, Danielle was pretty sure she had already seen a movie with this exact same plot before.

"Hardison," Eliot called as they joined the rest of the team outside, "let's go, man. You have it."

"Aw, not yet." Hardison answered, "uh, Sophie, Sophie, we need that scene. Are you finished with it yet?"

Sophie called out from inside the prop truck, "it's in the box on the back of the truck."

Danielle picked up the papers, "Sophie, this is not what we agreed on. It's supposed to be a two-page scene between Irina and a boy."

Eliot ripped the papers from Danielle's hands, "that's still the heart of it." Sophie argued still out of sight.

"The heart of it?" Eliot repeated as he went through the pages, "there's like 10 pages here! You have a stunt; you have special effects."

"What?" Dani exclaimed trying to read over Eliot's shoulder.

"Sister Magda crosses and gets a loaf of bread," Parker read out from the script. "Wait, who's sister Magda?"

Sophie came rolling out on a small board, wearing a nun costume, "tell me you didn't see that coming." Hardison turned to them, annoyed.

Of course, Sophie would take this opportunity to act. It was her passion, although, she wasn't very good at it.

Sister Magda ran through the woods, chased down by soldiers. Afraid and out of breath, she tripped and fell. She picked herself up quickly, and found refuge in a barn. She stood behind the doors. On the other side, the soldiers had gathered at the doors.

"We have you surrounded, come out with your hands up!"

Danielle observed the scene, quite impressed with Sophie's acting in this moment. She has seen the grifter act in numerous stage plays, and Sophie never had been a great actress. But there, in front of the camera, she was giving her best performance.

"And—cut!" The director called.

"Let's reset people," Danielle called to the rest of the crew while they applauded Sophie's performance.

Irina approached Nate, Eliot and Danielle in her costume, as Sophie left. "It's a disaster. A disaster!" Nate exclaimed.

"Jack, I know, I know," Eliot tried to pacify him. "Okay?"

"I tell you. Where is he?"

"Okay, just—"

"Is there a problem?" Irina questioned them both, as Danielle stood on the side with script.

"No, no—"

"Is there a problem—"

"Yes, there is a problem," Eliot leaned into Irina. "The kid that was gonna play your son—he didn't show up for work today, all right?"

Nate grabbed the script from Danielle and started to rip pages out of it. They started to talk over each other while Eliot pleaded with him not to. Danielle flinched away as the pages were being thrown over her head.

"Alright, alright, alright. You're right," Eliot turned to Irina. "Irina, I'm sorry. We're gonna have to move on. I apologize, sweetheart."

"Wait! Wait!" Irina protested, "I will find you a boy."

"No," the director shook his head. "We had the perfect boy. Don't you understand?" He moved closer to Irina, "he was 10 years old, blond hair, almond eyes. Old soul! He was perfect!"

"Please don't cut the scene! Trust me! I know this boy!" Irina pleaded in a desperate attempt to save her part, "I mean, I will bring him."

"Can he be here by tomorrow, 'cause I can't afford another—" Eliot told her.

"Tomorrow, I bring him, I promise you," Irina promised.

"Otherwise, scene cut!" Nate warned her.

"Okay, no cut! No! I bring him!" Irina rushed away from set.

"Parker, she's on the move," Nate informed Parker.

Parker and Hardison had found Luca. And so much more. It could change the course of everything. It was so much more than an adoption scam; they were arms dealer using the orphans as covers. This had just gotten more complicated than planned.

"So, during the NATO bombing runs in the '90s, gunrunners, they used to store their weapons in hospitals, orphanages, anywhere they knew wouldn't be targeted," Nate explained

Danielle sat next to Eliot, "yeah, so, now instead of evading bombs, they're ducking the police." Sophie sat next to her, "It's the same strategy."

"And what about the adoption scam?" Parker questioned.

"Oh, fringe benefit," Nate answered. "You take a building filled with orphans, a bunch of kids nobody cares about, why not use them to make some extra cash?"

"Nicolas sells his guns, and Irina gets a little sideline." Eliot observed.

"Perfect couple," Dani scoffed.

"I ran humpty and dumpty through the usual databases," Hardison continued. "Chechen separatists. Seriously bad dudes." Eliot chuckled at the intel. "After reading their bios, I don't think I'm ever gonna sleep again."

"Never tell a Chechen, his siter has a nice smile," Eliot commented. "Trust me."

Hardison pulled out his laptop, "I ran through a translation program. They're inspecting the merchandise. They're bringing the money tomorrow."

"Well, none of this affects our original plan," Nate told them. "Irina is bringing Luca to the set here tomorrow. So, we grab him and we clear out," Danielle frowned up at that. "And Nicolas doesn't have to be part of the picture."

"What about the other kids?" Danielle asked.

"Listen, we can't do anything about them," Nate retorted. "I mean, we're not equipped."

"No, no, no," Hardison agreed with Daneille. "I already talked to Parker about it."

"And I said walk away," Parker assured Nate.

"You didn't mean that," Hardison shook his head. "We can't leave them there."

"It is too risky," Nate argued. "They have—they have guns, manpower, potential hostages. What do we have? We have a—prop truck. That's it."

"I worked with worse odds," Danielle shrugged.

Nate looked pointedly at Danielle, "what we'll do is we will go home, we will figure this thing out, do some research, make a real plan, and we will come back." Danielle looked away from him. "We'll come back. But right now, the focus has to be on Luca, to rescue Luca. That's why we're here."

Nate walked away, "he's right, you know?" Eliot turned to Danielle and Sophie.

"I know," Sophie sadly agreed.

This whole ordeal didn't sit well with her. Of course, they were there to save Luca but all those orphans were still in danger. She wished she could do something about it. But Nate promised they'd be back for the others. And she believed him.

They had lured Irina back to the set, and she had come with Luca. The last part of their scheme was falling into place neatly. Irina acted out her death scene while Danielle snatched Luca away from the set.

Danielle climbed out of the van, followed by Nate. The latter helped Luca out of the van, he was still in his costume for the movie.

Sophie bent down to his level, and soothingly said a few words in Serbian. Luca remained quiet.

"Maybe this will help," Eliot said before leading Luca to the Mortons, his new parents.

"Hi, Luca," Dana greeted him with a warm smile, and a voice thick with emotions. "Do you remember us?" Luca smiled at her and Dana pulled into a warm hug, overjoyed to have her boy back.

"I gotta tell you," Eliot started. "I had my doubts at first, but this feels pretty good."

"Yeah, we'll, uh, we'll come back for the others," Nate assured you all again. "Where's Parker?"

The group started to look around them, "I thought she was with you," Sophie said.

"No," Nate shook his head.

"Uh, she's not wearing her ear bud." Hardison informed them.

"What? Why?"

"It's—it's—it's cool, it's cool," Hardison reassured Nate. "Remember when I lost her at the party? I put a GPS tracker in her shoes. She's headed back towards the orphanage."

They rushed back into the van, "worse odds, uh?" Nate turned to Dani.

"Thought you'd never ask," Dani smirked back at him. "We're gonna need the prop truck."

"What the hell for?" Eliot asked her.

"They have weapons and we don't," Dani retorted. "And Hardison has worked on explosives and having a blast. Pun intended. We could use that to our advantage."

"You thought about it?" Sophie turned to her.

"Can't say I haven't," Dani exhaled. "All we need to do is to stall them using the prop rifles for as long as possible."

"Long enough to get Parker and the kids out," Nate agreed.

Eliot and Danielle switched the rifles for the prop ones while Hardison set up the finale for this quick con. It almost went without a hitch, if not for the few guards Eliot and Danielle encountered on their way out.

"No, they don't," Sophie was saying as they both stepped out. Parker was already to the truck with the children.

Danielle stepped into the prop truck after Eliot and Sophie, followed by Parker. Nate drove the truck away from the orphanage and stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" Parker asked in panic. "GO, GO, GO!" Nicolas and his men rushed to the truck, weapons at ready. Parker shielded the children with her body as they fired their weapons. Once they stopped, Parker checked herself for any injuries. Stunned of finding none she turned to the rest of them.

"Prop truck," Sophie simply said and Danielle winked at her.

Hardison stepped into their sight of line, his back to Nicolas and his men. He pushed a button on his remote, and the whole building behind him exploded.

"And cut!" Danielle glanced up at Eliot as Hardison jumped into the truck.

"They're all asleep," Sophie informed them.

"We'll replace this license plate, Nate, so we can get a clean shot to the border." Eliot informed him.

"Okay, when we cross over, we're gonna turn the kids over to the World Health Organization," Nate replied reading out the map, he had spread over the hood.

"What? Wait," Parker started.

"No, it's okay," Nate reassured her. "We called, and they're expecting us. It's all gonna be okay."

"Okay," Parker nodded slowly. "Uh, what about Irina?"

"Irina," Nate repeated. "Hmm. Yeah, well, do you remember the movie funding that just disappeared?" Parker nodded, "she should have known better, taking a producer's cut." Danielle snorted.

"Oh, Nate, you did—you did get a copy of my scene, my death scene for my reel?" Sophie asked him.

"Yeah. No, no. We kinda—" Nate stammered out.

"There was no film in the camera," Eliot told her.

"We are definitely, definitely stopping in Paris," Sophie threatened him.

"Way to go," Nate glared after Eliot while both he and Danielle followed Sophie into the prop truck. "No film in the camera? Really? Seriously?"

Nate followed soon, sitting in the driver's seat, "so, Emmanuelle, uh?"

"Yeah, I got curious," Danielle shrugged.

"No other reasons?"

"No other reasons."