Fic: Transition Part 2

[acquariusgb]

An hour later Sam was standing next to Zoe who was vigilant over her father. He still hadn't woken up from the surgery. He noticed she was fiddling with a pendant.
"Sorry," She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "It's a nervous habit."
"No problem. What is it?"
"Saint Brigit. My mother's name. Dad got it for me after she died."
"I lost my mother too," He told her.
"Really?"
"Yeah, nearly three years ago. A drunk driver sent her car off the street."
"Oh, so she's not ..." She nodded towards the brunette woman who was standing next to Nate.
"No, that's Sophie. She's... well I'm trying to make her my Dad's girlfriend, but it's turning out to be an impossible task."
She gave a small laugh. "They say the accident's his fault."
"No, no listen! My Dad and his team. Well, they've found something. I can't really understand it, but you're dad found out that the bank was doing something illegal and he wanted to make things right."
"No, no it’s my fault, I insisted he talk to the police. If he had left thing alone..."
"It's not your fault. It's the bad guys and my Dad will make things right. He always does." He timidly touched her arm in conform and she smiled back at him.
"Ah, young love," Sophie exclaimed watching, or more like spying, from the hallway.
"Leave them alone!" Nate went to sit on a waiting chair, standing was putting too much stress on his abdomen.
"You say this because it's your son, but if you had a daughter, you would be keeping an eye there too."
"Sam is too young to be thinking about... girls and stuff..."
"He's nearly eleven" she pointed out at him sitting on the chair next to his. "How old were you when you gave your first kiss?"
"Thirteen," He answered, he saw her raise an eyebrow in amusement "I was a shy boy!"
"Of course!" She giggled.
"And how old were you?"
"A woman never kisses and tells," She teased him back.
He laughed back. He looked up and saw Sam and Zoe laughing together. His son managed to bring some happiness in that girl's day. He reminded him so much of Maggie. He knew Sam wasn't at ease inside hospitals, exactly like him. He was in a hospital room himself recovering from cancer, when Nate had seen his wife dying in the ER.
He was still feeling guilty. Maggie had been in a car accident coming back to the hospital to their son, while he was on the roof top of that same building kissing another woman, the same woman that had paid for Sam's treatment and gave his son back his life, the woman that was sitting next to him then.
"How come you didn't tell us you were in town?" He suddenly asked her.
"What?" Sophie was too preoccupied with her thought that she hadn't heard him.
He turned his head towards her. "Why did you contact us only for your play debut? You must have been here in Boston for some time now"
"I... I don't know." She put a hand on her forehead. "I didn't know where we stood after that day in LA." She sighed. "You didn't stop me, Nate. You let me go on that plane and never looked back again."
"You were expecting me to stop you?" He whispered.
She gave a small sad chuckle. "The fact that the thought never crossed your mind, tells me exactly what you thought about us."
"Soph..."
She waved him off. “No, really. It's nothing." She tried to keep her tears at bay. “Do you still blame me for what happened to Sam? Or Maggie?” She knew he had blame her for Ian kidnapping Sam, if only she hadn’t been so greedy and went after both Donatello’s David. And she knew that he blame himself and her for Maggie’s accident. He thought it had been God’s punishment for them kissing that night.
“Of course not and it was wrong for me to say that to you. I just needed time and I think I was pushing you away in the process, I didn’t mean to hurt you."
"I was willingly to give you more time. You were the one that kissed me in Paris, remember?"
After the had done a job in Ukraine they had stopped a weekend in Paris. It had only been them and Sam, since the rest of the team had scattered around for their private affairs. It had been a nice weekend. Sophie had showed Sam her favourite city and Nate took the opportunity to relax and enjoy the small vacation.
Then one evening, after they had put Sam to bed, they stood outside their hotel suit balcony and Nate took her in his arms. They were dancing to a faint music coming from down the street, when he suddenly kissed her.
"I know..."
"And you were the one that said we could have started slow, go out on dates..."
"I know, I'm sorry. I had every intention of doing that, but then the drinking got worse, the David job, Ian kidnapping Sam... it was too much to take at the time. I..." He sighed bending his head down. How was he going to exclaim it to her. "I needed to take care of myself, for Sam and for you, before starting something."
"And you did that. You look good"
"Being sober and not constantly drunk can do that to you," He joked.
"And now?"
"And now here we are." They locked eyes.
"And there's Brian," She said knowing that her boyfriend was now an obstacle to their relationship.
She had met Brian at a coffee shop. She had accidentally bumped into him and he apologized, even though it had been her fault, and paid for another coffee since hers was scattered on the floor. They sat down at a table and started talking to each other. At first she thought about giving him one of her aliases name, Katherine, but then she went with Sophie. They slowly started dating and seeing more of each other. That had been two months before.
"Is it..." He left the question hanged in the air
"Is it serious, you mean?" She sighed. "I don't know. But I need to give it a chance. I need to have an uncomplicated and not-stressful relationship for a while, to make sure that I can be that person." she told him truthfully. "You're not the only one with issues, here."
"Yeah," He sighed "So..."
"So..."
"Back to friends?"
She gave him a small smile. "Back to friends." She knew that that wasn't enough for them, but she wondered if the time for them was ever going to come.
After they had left the hospital, it was time to set the con in motion. Nate had called O'Hare while Parker and Hardison took care of the bank manager. The con didn’t go without a “small” hitch. Of course the bank manager was at the head of everything and for a moment Nate had been face to face with a gun and since he already got stabbed the day before, he really hadn’t enjoyed it. Luckily he had a great team and Sophie, or more precisely Annie Kroy, saved the day. A stage death, a confession and the help of a State police Detective, it hadn’t been bad for the first con back together.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Matt Kerrigan shook Nate’s hand. He had finally regained consciousness and three days later he was out of the hospital on crunches because of a broken leg.
“Here,” Nate handed him a check.
Kerrigan looked at it and gasped. “I can’t accept this.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not from us. The IRS pays a percentage for all the tax frauds reported. All those mob businesses, 30 years of back taxes. You found them.”
“Well, thank you.”
They turned towards the far table where Sam and Zoe were talking. “ Zoe is not too happy that we’ve got to move, but I don’t feel safe here anymore. Brillinger is not that far.”
“I understand. Sam had lived his whole life in LA. But we had to move too, a couple of months ago. It’s the things we must do to keep our children safe.”
“Yeah.”
Zoe took Sam’s hand a pressed her St. Brigit medal against it. “I want you to keep this”
“But it’s yours… your Mum…”
“Please,” She insisted. “Your Dad and you did so much for us.  There are wolves in the world. But sometimes they're the good guys, I guess.”
They both got up and exchanged an awkward hug.
“Are you ready to go?” Her father limped beside her.
She nodded. “Send me emails.”
“I will,” Sam sat back down and watched one of his new real friends walk away.
“Poor guy," Sophie whispered in Nate’s ear as she quietly stood behind him.
“He’ll get over it. He will make new friends.”
“Yes, well. It’s his first love disappointment.”
“Where are the others?” He looked around, but couldn’t see them. “I was hoping we could all have dinner together.”
“They’ve disappeared a few minutes ago. Something about changes and hammers.”
Nate looked worried. “Oh, well. I guess it’s just us and Sam.”
Sophie looked down embarrassed. “Hmm.. yeah… actually I’ve already got dinner plans with Brian”
“Ah, of course.” Nate tried to hide his disappointment.
“It will be for the next time.”
“Sure, no problem."
Sophie walked passed him and she too exited the pub. Sighing, Nate made his way towards Sam’s table and sat in the booth in front of his.
“You got stood up too, didn’t you?” Sam asked already knowing the answer.
“Yeah.” Nate’s eyes fell on the many bottles standing behind the pub’s counter, but then he looked down at Sam, his eyes firmly on him. What he had to lose was not worth the pleasure a single sip was going to give him, even though it was tempting, really tempting.
“How about we go home and see what we’ve got to eat?” He suggested.
“Yeah. Sounds like a good idea, maybe a nice bowl full of ice-cream and sweets.”
Nate chuckled had patted his son’s head as they walked towards the back door.
Two weeks later the team just got back from a job in Nebraska.
“Can you show me again the video of Eliot kicking everybody’s asses?” Sam sat on the couch next to Hardison who was working on his laptop.
“Sam, language!” Nate scolded him from coming down the stairs.
Sam ignored him and watched as Hardison put the video on full screen on the monitors.
“Oh, not all that violence again,” Sophie frowned closing her eyes as she walked inside the condo. She put her handbag on the kitchen counter and went to put the kettle on for a cup of tea.
“I wish I were there too. It sounded like a cool job.”
“Believe me, there was nothing cool about it.” Sophie sat next to the boy and put her arm around him. “All the food was yellow and they used meat as adjective… ADJECTIVE. Seriously, I still don’t see what the big deal was about that  chicken-fried steak.”
“Still, it would have been fun seeing a boxing match and Eliot beat the guy up. Cora is fine, but she’s always busy with the pub, I was practically alone all the time. If you go away again, it would more fun to come with you. ”
“Aren’t you forgetting about school, kiddo?” Nate walked pass the couch and messed his hair with a hand.
“Seeing Eliot going crazy was awesome, though," Hardison sniggered. Then he looked at Sophie “Why are you here?”
She shrugged “I don’t know. Nate summoned me. I’ve thought it was for another job,” She followed the mastermind with her eyes. For the first time she noticed that he was dressed in a suit and tie and that he looked nice, like he was going out. “Are you going on a date?” She wondered, raising her eyebrows.
He put his best jacket on and turned towards her. “No,” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to the parent teacher conference.”
“What?” Sam’s head snapped around. “There’s a conference?”
“Yes, the one your school informed me about where I talk to your teachers and they let me know how you’re doing. Anything I should know before I go?” He asked with his best fatherly tone.
“Nope. Everything is fine.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s still doesn’t explain why I’m here”  
“To babysit of course”
“Hey,” Alec exclaimed. “What am I? The invisible man?” He was a bit hurt that the mastermind didn’t trust him to look after the boy.
Nate shook his head. “I don’t even know why you’re here.”
“I’m the landlord, remember?”
“Last time I checked, it doesn’t give you the right to stay in people’s homes and eat all their food and take control of their TV.”
“Details, man, details!”
“Well, there’s some money on the counter if you want to order a pizza, and you?” He pointed a finger at his son. “In bed no later than 10pm.”
“But…”
“No buts… I’ll be back before then,” He sighed. “I hope it won’t last long.” He walked outside, closing the door behind him.
“So, who’s up for some video gaming?” Hardison asked, already setting up the console.
Sophie just rolled her eyes and sighed as she went to get her tea and sat down to read a book. This wasn’t exactly turning out to be the evening she had planned.
Nate slowly made his way inside the school. It had completely changed from when he had attended it all those years ago, but he didn’t know why he still felt intimidated being surrounded by those walls. He heard voices coming from down the hall and he decided to follow them. He pushed the door opened and quietly made his way inside. The other parents inside turned their heads towards him and he gave a small nod and an apologetic nod and then sat on a chair in the far corner. A young and quite attractive teacher was already talking about the class activities in general and Nate was really trying to follow her words, but he always got bored at these things. Maggie was the one who attended them, but now it was up to him. Maybe an year ago he would have had his usual glass of whiskey before going, just to give him an edge, now that he was sober, he really had trouble to stay alert. Finally, after nearly thirty minutes, the teacher had stopped talking and some of the parents got closer to her to ask more details about their children. He waited for most of the people to leave, he really didn’t want to talk to them, then he approached the woman.
“Hi," He smiled at her.
“You must be Sam’s father.” She smiled back at him.
“Hmm…” He was a bit taken aback.
“I’ve never seen you before and Sam is the only new student.”
“Ah… yeah I’m Nathan Ford,” He shook her hand.
“Miss. Lauren Nolan. Sam is such a sweet kid, smart too.”
“I’ll try not to tell him that. He gets a bit cocky.” He joked.
“Well, I don’t really see him socializing with his new classmates. He usually keeps to himself.”
Yes, well.. like father like son, Nate thought. “Moving here from L.A. hasn’t been easy for him. He left a lot of friends behind and well… the last couple of years have been difficult.”
“Yeah, I read his file.” She sympathized.  “About your wife’s accident and his battle with cancer? Is he okay now?”
“Yeah, he’s been cancer free for more than two years now, but yeah.. it was a difficult period for him, but I think he managed quite well.”
“I just hope he can make new friends here.”
Suddenly a phone call interrupted their conversation. She looked at the screen and Nate noticed how she quickly became agitated.
“Sorry, I have to take this." And she turned away from him. “Ronald, what’s going on?” She paused. “You decided to what? You can’t go there. I know it’s for Anna. I need to go now, I’ll talk to you later. Please, don’t do anything stupid.” She closed the call and sighed.
“Something wrong?” Nate knew that something was troubling her. Something that maybe the team could help with.
“Oh no, nothing really. I don’t want to burden you with my problems.” She dismissed him.
“Maybe I could help. My team and I… well let’s say we specialize in solving problems that the authority or maybe other people can’t solve.”
She looked at him skeptically, but then she confided in him. “That was a longtime friend of my mother’s. He is like an uncle to me. Have you heard of Eddie Maranjian?”
He nodded. “Yes, I’m following the news. He conned a lot of people, took all their lifesavings, and the police still haven't found the money.”
“One of the victims was Ronald’s sister. She lost everything to that man and at the end she didn’t have the money to pay for her cures and…” She dried her tears, “… she died about a month ago. Now Roland wants Maranjian to pay and I don’t know what he will do. He’s a good man, he is not…”
“We’ll take care of everything, don’t you worry,” He reassured her.
“Thanks, Mr. Ford, but Roland mustn’t know I’ve sent you, he’s a proud man.”
He drove back to the condo. Through the closed door he could hear Hardison and Sam shouting over a game. He felt a bit bad to have left Sophie with those two, but when he opened the door he was surprised to see Sophie with a controller in her hands playing what looked like a shooting game. Parker and Eliot were there too, they must have joined the other after he had left.
“Sophie, on your right!” Sam warned her.
The grifter took down the last enemy. “Yes, take that!” She cheered at her success.
They all turned around when they heard the front door close. Nate glared at Sophie, but he was trying to hide a smile. “Weren’t you supposed to be the responsible one and have my son ready for bed right now?”
They all looked at the time and groaned. “I’m off!” Sam jumped from the couch and rushed upstairs.
“So, how did it go?” Sophie got up from her seat, a bit embarrassed that the mastermind had found her playing video games, something she said she’d never liked.
“We’ve got a new job,” He smirked.
“What?” Hardison exclaimed. “How can you go to a parent teaching meeting and come back with a new job?”
“Hmm… Nate,” Eliot intervened. “I’m not exactly up for a new job. I still need time to recuperate”
“Don’t worry I’ve already got a plan and it will be in a couple of weeks, after Sam’s birthday. We’ll just have to follow the trail and see if justice wins. If not, we will make sure it does.”
Three days later Nate gently pushed the door of his son's bedroom with his right foot. In his hands he had a tray with a plate full of chocolate chips pancakes and a glass of orange juice.
"Wake up, birthday boy!" He said waking up the now 11 years old boy.
"Hmm..." Sam stirred from his sleep. He saw his father and smiled. It was a long time family tradition. His parents always woke him up with breakfast in bed on his birthday. For a moment he thought about his mother, how he wished she were still with them, but he quickly kicked it away .
Nate noticed the slight hesitation and he felt that ache in his heart that sometimes snuck up at him; it was guilt that ate him from the inside. Most of the times he wished that he had died that night and that Sam would still have Maggie with him. She had certainly been the better parent between them and the kid needed his mother most. That thought had drove him to the bottle, but the belief that he had to do better to honour Maggie's memory helped him get cleaned.
"Thanks dad," Sam thanked him when Nate put the tray on his lap.
"Are you ready for a day of fun?" Nate sat on the edge of the bed. "It's a nice Saturday. We could go to the park to play catch or..." He smiled, " I'm pretty sure the Carnival is in town."
Sam smiled. "Really? Are the others going to come to?"
"Yes," He nodded. "You can even invite some of your classmates. Did you make friends with any of them?"
Sam shrugged. "Not really"
Nate sighed. "You really don't want to turn like your dad."
"We've got friends. There's Parker, Eliot, Hardison and Sophie"
"That's different, Sam," He told him. "Promise me you'll try to get to know someone of our own age?"
"There's someone who reminds me of Max. I could call him and see if he's free to come." Max had been his best friend in L.A. He really missed him. They chatted on the computer nearly every night, but it wasn't the same. He missed his old friends.
Nate patted his knee. "Okay." He got up. "I need to go somewhere. Sophie should be here soon." He looked at the watch. "Actually, she's a bit late which it's quite unusual for her."
"I'm sure I'll manage to stay on my own for a bit without burning the house down," Sam replied sarcastically.
"Now that you're 11, it doesn't mean that you can be more arrogant," Nate smirked. "If you need anything before Sophie gets here, you can always call for Hardison... if he's up!"
The hacker had move to an empty apartment on the floor above soon after he had bought the whole building and became their landlord.
Half an hour later, Nate walked inside the local bakery. It was the best bakery in town. It was always full and Nate often got cupcakes and biscuits from it. Eliot didn't really like it when he did, since he was the cook of the team, but even the hitter had to admit that the desserts were excellent. Nate remembered how his mother used to get his birthday cakes from it and he wanted to do the same for Sam, so weeks before he had ordered their special double chocolate cake.
"I don't care how much money you offer. This places is not for sale and neither are my family recipes!" Carl, the current owner, shouted to a man in a suit.
"I know the business is doing great, but it's not enough to cover all your expenses. Soon the bank will foreclose this place and you would have wished you had accepted my offer"
That caught Nate's attention because that had sounded a lot like a threat.
"Goodbye Mr. Gold," Carl told him and with that the conversation was over.
Mr. Gold stared at him and with a frustrated laugh he left.
"Oh, Nate." Carl noticed the mastermind "The cake is ready. Let me just get it from the back" The man went to the back of the shop and then returned with a white box. "Here's our special." He smiled.
"Thanks Carl." Nate paid him "Is everything okay?" He inquired while handling him the bills.
"Oh, sorry about that. There's this company that wants to buy the shop. I know they're not interested in the building but more on the recipes. There's no way I'm giving them away. This has been my family business for nearly a century now. My children will be ready to take over soon, but the bills are piling up…" He sighed deeply. "I don't know what to do."
"Do you need me to look into it?" Nate asked. He knew people remembered what his father did in this neighbourhood. He was often scared that people would associate what he and his team did with all the horrible things Jimmy Ford had done back in the days.
Carl knew that Nate Ford and his crew were getting a reputation for saving a lot of people in town, sometimes running along the borderline of justice and criminal. He needed help and Nathan Ford was the right man for the job.
"That would be great, thanks."
"No problem," Nate smiled. "I'll let you know what I find. In the meanwhile, keep your eyes open and if you need anything you know where to find me."
"Sure."
Nate left the shop with the cake and got back to his apartment. Sophie and Parker were already there. Parker was playing with Sam at... was Parker teaching Sam how to pick locks?
"Hey Dad, look what Parker got me for my birthday!" Sam exclaimed happily.
"That's... great."
He put the cake in the fridge and turned towards Sophie. The grifter was suspiciously quiet. She was sitting at the kitchen table stirring at her tea absentmindedly.
"Hey," He sat down next to her. "Is everything okay?" He tilted his head.
"Hmm..." She jumped on the chair, startled. She had been so focused on her thoughts that she really didn’t hear him "Oh hi, yeah, everything is okay," She lied something that Nate knew perfectly well, but he let the subject drop knowing she wasn't going to confide in him right then.
"So, our boy is turning 11. Time really flies." He kept his eyes steady on his son
"Yeah," She smiled as she watched Sam and Parker laugh at the boy's attempt to steal something from the blonde.
"I can still remember when Maggie and I brought him home for the first time. He was only a few days old and he had everyone wrapped around his finger... he still does." He smiled, but Sophie knew it was a sad smile.
"You miss her." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah,” He breathed. “I know Sam does too. I could see it in his eyes this morning when I woke him up. He was thinking about her.” He paused. “She should be the one here."
The way he had formalized that phrase made her worry "Nate..."
The door suddenly opened and Hardison and Eliot came in.
"Happy Birthday!" Hardison exclaimed. "Are you ready for the carnival?"
The team spent the rest of the day at the Carnival. Eliot, Hardison and Parker took Sam to all the dangerous rides. Nate hadn't been so happy about it, but Sam was having fun and that was what mattered the most. The also played some games and Eliot had showed them how to win some of them, so Nate and Sophie ended up having their arms full of soft toys and other prizes.
"I'm keeping the monkey," Parker said for the fifth time.
They were gathered around Nate's kitchen waiting for Eliot to serve dinner.
"Parker, he's a kid and you are..." Hardison didn't know how to continue the statement, "A grown up. It's his birthday so Sam's keeping all the prizes."
The thief sulked, not happy about the situation.
"Don't worry, Parker," Sam patted her hand. "You can have the monkey if you want. I have enough toys already."
Parker smiled and then turned her head and stuck her tongue out at the hacker.
"I can't believe it that an 11 years old is more mature than you," Eliot shook his head as he put the last plate on the table.
"Let's dig in!" Hardison had already some spaghetti ready on his fork.
After dinner, they ate the cake and they all went for an extra piece, finishing the whole thing.
"So," Nate clapped his hands. "Do you want your birthday present?" He smirked at his son.
"I thought the cake and the carnival were my presents..."
"Nah..." He waved his hand. Then he took out a white envelope from the inside pocket of his blazer. "Here."
Sam opened the envelope and gasped.
"Let me see." Parker’s curiosity won. "What is it?"
"They're season tickets to go and see all the Red Sox games at Fenway!" He jumped and went to hug his father. "You're the best! Thank you!"
"You're welcome." Nate hugged him back.
Sam got some other presents from the team. Hardison got him a new phone, Eliot a new horse saddle and a horse that was waiting for him at hitter's ranch and Sophie got him tickets for the new Harry Potter premier. She knew the boy loved the saga and she managed to get tickets for the opening in New York.
After they all played a board game, Sam went to bed and the three younger members of the team left for the day, telling the mastermind that they were going to see him on Monday.
Sophie stayed behind to help him clean up, but he knew it was only an excuse to keep an eye on him. She felt like he might be on the verge of starting drinking again and she wanted to stop him from making that mistake.
"So," Nate put the last plate in the dishwasher and turned it on. "Are you finally going to tell me what's been bothering you today?" He sat on the couch and Sophie soon took a place on the opposite side.
"Nothing," She told him but feeling his eyes staying on her she groaned, frustrated. "Brian and I had a fight last night." She finally confessed.
"About what?"
"About... everything…" She didn't know what to say to him. Her relationship with Brian was something she really didn't want to discuss with the man that still held her heart. "He wasn't really happy that I wasn't going to spend the day with him."
"You could have made other plans for today."
"There was no way I was going to miss Sam's birthday and I told him that."
Nate smirked, a little satisfied that she had preferred spending the day with them instead of her so annoying boyfriend. After the team had met the guy at Sophie’s opening, they had gone out for drinks a couple of times but, as much as they tried, or at least that’s what they kept telling themselves, no one had connected with the man and he was mostly a burden.
"So of course he knew I was going to spend the day with you... and that started another fight."
He frowned. "Does he know..."
"No, of course not. Not like there's anything to say, really."
Ouch, that was another stab at him for their not-so-really-started relationship.
"He's just jealous, that's all. But it can be annoying sometimes."
"Well... if he tries something you know I have a hitter on my payroll," He joked.
She chuckled. "Thanks Nate." And she patted his hand that was lying next to hers. “I guess it’s time for me to go.”
They both got up and they were standing dangerously close.
“Hmm… okay.” She quickly turned around, feeling the energy between them. “Goodnight Nate.”
“Goodnight,” He whispered at the closing door.
In the three weeks following Sam’s birthday the team managed both to help Carl save the bakery and to find the money Marinjian stole and getting him arrested again.  If the cons were going great, things couldn’t be said the same for the emotions running in the team, or more precisely between the two senior members.  Sophie’s private life was interfering more and more with her job and Nate wasn’t very happy about it.
“What do you mean you can’t come to the client meeting tomorrow morning?”
“Sorry Nate, but I’m having breakfast with Brian and I might be late tomorrow”
“I thought the two of you were going out for dinner tonight and that’s why you can’t make it to movie night?”
Sophie just stared at him with an obvious look, hoping that his male brain would make the connection.
It finally hit Nate what she had meant and his eyes darkened. He was telling himself that it shouldn’t bother him, it was none of his business who she slept with, but the battle in his head wasn’t really working. “If you’re not invested in the team I don’t know why you bother coming!”  He shouted to her. He immediately regretted his words, but in that moment he wanted to hurt her.
Sophie gasped, shocked. “I…” She didn’t know what to say. “I… If you had,” She started pacing, waving her hands in the air, “I don’t know…A life beside Sam and the job, you would know I’m trying my best to make everything in my life work”
“I have.”
She abruptly stopped pacing, her anger turned into shock again. “What?”
He sighed. “I am… kind of dating… someone”
“What? Who? Since when? How…” She stormed him with questions. She took a deep breath “How come you didn’t tell us?”
He shrugged and waved her off. “It’s nothing really. Nothing I want to talk about it. It’s only been a couple of dates in the past couple of weeks.”
“Does Sam know?”
“No, I would prefer if he didn’t… he might be not too happy about it.”
“Why?” She frowned. “He’s the one who’s always trying to push you towards dating someone.”
“I don’t think he would approve of her...”
Now that teased her curiosity. “Who is it?” She smiled and approached him, using her grifter techniques to get the truth.
“Lauren Nolan," He caved.
“Nolan? The one that asked us help for the Marinjain case?” Then it hit her. “Sam’s teacher?” She gasped.
He nodded.
“Wow,” She paused “Is it even professional?”
“I said it was nothing. We’ve just been out a couple of times. She asked me out for lunch to thank me for helping her friend and I guess then we decided to meet again.”
“Nate, this could easily turn into a disaster. What if things don’t work out and she takes it on Sam? What if Sam’s finds out about it?”
“I said it’s nothing,” He told her firmly, ending that part of the conversation. “Let’s get back to the point. You’re missing a client meeting tomorrow. Again”
His words were making her feel guilty. She had a commitment with the team, but she owned to Brian to try and make things work between them. He was slipping away from her and now that Nate seemed to be moving on too, she didn’t want to stay alone. “You have your private life,  I have mine.” She gathered her things and opened the door.
“What am I supposed to do tomorrow?” He shouted after her.
“Take Parker” She slammed the door behind her.
Parker wasn’t the right person to take at the clients meetings and, as expected, it had been a disaster.
“I told you not to take her,” Eliot pointed out at the mastermind, seeing the man emotionally spent after trying to avert disaster after disaster with Parker’s lack of filter when it came to talking to people.
“Well, you were right, but Sophie…” He looked around him. “Where is Sophie?”
“Still not here.” Hardison took his place besides the monitors.
“Well, we don’t have time to wait for her. Let’s start.”
Hardison pulled the information they needed and explained the situation and what he had found during his research. By the end of the meeting they had figured out how to get their mark, Daniel Fowler, out of the his house so they could look for the money he had stashed away and help their client’s clinic.
“Sophie is still not here,” Parker commented as she ate her cereal.
“That’s very unusual for her,” Eliot noticed. He had a bad feeling about it, but he didn’t want to alarm his friends.
Nate shrugged it off. “She might have taken the day off to stay with that boyfriend of hers. I’ve already told her not to let her private life interfere with our work, but apparently I’m not allowed to say anything,” He ranted.
The others looked at each other, not knowing how to take care of the situation. They knew that the relationship between Nate and Sophie was complicated and things were a bit awkward since they all moved to Boston, especially in the last few weeks.
Parker’s mobile phone suddenly beeped and she checked it. “She just sent me a text saying that she's not feeling very well today and that she’ll come by tomorrow.”
“Seriously?” Hardison exclaimed “How are you going to pull off the con without her?”
“You take care of the school principal. Send him… I don’t know… somewhere. So we can steal the school and operate freely” Nate told the hacker and got up from the couch.
“What are you going to do?” Eliot asked as he watched the mastermind exit his apartment.
“I’m going to visit a sick friend.”
Sophie was curled up in her bed. A loose white sweeter that reached down to her knees was covering her upper body, while her legs were wrapped in a pair of tight leggings. Her face was hidden in her pillow and she was snuggling her blanket.
She heard someone knocking at her front door. She already knew who it was and she tried her best to ignore the incessant banging; she really didn’t want to see the others.
“Sophie!” She heard Nate shout. “Open the door, Sophie!”
Then it all stopped. She sighed in relief and dried the tears that were still silently falling. Suddenly she heard faint footsteps approaching her room.
“Soph…” He whispered.
“What are you doing here?” She gulped, hoping he wouldn’t notice her crying. “Did you pick my lock?”
“I’m a thief,” He retorted back.
“Ah, funny hearing you say that since you keep reminding us how you’re not a thief.” She still hadn’t turned around.
“Sophie, what’s going on?” He walked over the other side of the bed and she hid further in the pillow.
“Nothing. I’m not feeling well. You should probably leave before you get it too.”
“I know when you’re lying to me.” He sat down and shifted the blanket. What he saw made his blood boil inside his veins. He swallowed hard. “What happened?”
“Nate…” She tried to calm him down. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” he got up “You’ve got a red cheek and a split lip. That’s not nothing!” He noticed her jump when he raised his voice, so breathed deeply, hoping that his blood pressure would go down “Was it him? Did he do this to you?”
“It’s… we had a fight this morning. He couldn’t understand why I had to leave and what kind of job I did with you… I told him it was over and…” She kept sobbing. “One minute he was shouting and then I felt the sting on my cheek. It was only one slap, he apologized soon after,  he was shocked too. He's not a violent guy.”
“Evidence suggests otherwise. Sophie, this is not you. The Sophie I know, wouldn’t have something like this happen. You knew things haven’t been right for some time, but you still kept trying. Why?”
“I told you. I wanted things to work out.” She defended herself.
“Why? Did you even love the guy?”
“I… I… wanted  it to work out.” She avoided answering and his eyes.
“But why?” He whispered as he gently lifted her face.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” She cried.
“You’re not alone. There’s the team, Sam, me. You’re never going to be alone, Sophie.”
She shook her head stepping back from him only to find the wall against her back. “That’s not what I meant. After we all went our separate ways in Los Angeles, I noticed I had nobody to go to. I felt so alone, I didn’t know who I was anymore without you all in my life. Then I met Brian and he was a breath of fresh air, someone new, but deep down I knew it wasn’t going to work out, there was no future with him, but I still had to cling to the idea.”
She suddenly felt his arms around her, which surprised both of them since he wasn’t a person who liked to touch others. She resisted at first, but then feeling him pulling her closer she caved and soon they were embracing, her head on his shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay,” He whispered in her ear as he caressed her back in comfort.
“I don’t know what to do.” She confessed. “How do I find myself again?”
“I’m here to help, trust me.”
She scoffed. “The irony in that.”
“You helped me take care of Sam while I was working out my issues last year. Now it’s my turn to be the friend you can lean on.” He looked her in the eyes. “Trust me.”
And for some insane reason she believed she could. She slowly nodded and then rested her head back down, taking some of his comfort.
After he had made sure that Sophie was going to be okay for the rest of the day, he slowly left her apartment after she had fallen asleep. There was another small thing he had to do.
He took his mobile phone from his pocket and called a number he had on speed dial. “Meet me at the corner of Sophie’s place. There’s something we’ve got to take care of.”
Half an hour later, Brian found himself pinned down on a chair by two of Sophie’s friends.
Eliot had a hand firmly on his shoulders. He tried to sit up, but even though it was only one hand, the long haired man was very strong and Brian began fearing for his life.
“I’ve got one rule.” Eliot hissed in his ear. “One simple rule. You don’t hit women.”
“It was an accident.” He babbled. “I didn’t mean to.”
Nate stepped out of the dark and stood over him. “You’re going to stay as far away from Sophie as possible. If I see your face or if she even mentions your name…”
“I knew you two had a thing.” Brian interrupted him. He might have been scared of Eliot, but he really hated Nate. “How long has it been going? Was she satisfying both of us? I mean, a woman like that…”
Angrily, Nate kicked Brian’s chair right in the middle of his legs and the man fell backwards. Brian grunted in pain as his back hit the floor.
“If you know what’s good for you, you will leave Sophie alone...if not…” Nate nodded his head towards Eliot.
The hitter shouted in anger and made a movement to punch the guy on the face. Brian shouted in fear and closed his eyes. He waited but he didn’t feel any pain. He slowly opened his eyes only to see Eliot’s fist inches from his face.
“Next time it's not going to stop,” Nate said and walked away followed by the hitter.
“Why didn’t you let me hit him?” Eliot asked, not sure what the mastermind had in mind. “He hurt Sophie. No one hurts any member of the team while I’m around.”
“He’s the kind of guy who would have gone to the police and pressed charges. We don’t need that. I just wanted to scare him a bit, hoping he’s not that stupid to try something else.”
“It’s just that.” Eliot struck his fist against his other hand. “I’ve been meaning to punch him since Sophie introduced him to us. He has a very punchable face.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nate snorted back. And Eliot knew that if he had to control all his fighting instinct for not hitting the guy, for Nate it must have been even worse since he was in love with Sophie and it was not easy to see the woman you love in pain. He knew that first hand.

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Continue to part 3