Leverage Bingo: The Reunion Job
Title: The Second Reunion Job
Author: acquariusgb
Characters: Team and other OC
Pairings: Nate/Sophie
Spoilers: The Reunion Job
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2530
Summary : Nate is reluctant to go to his high school reunion, but Sophie drags him to it anyway.
Written for my leverage_bingo card forleverage_bingo. The prompt is: The Reunion Job # 11
Entry also for challenge 01:The Big one for heist #7 in leverageland
The Second Reunion Job.
Nate entered his apartment. "I can't wait to get rid of these clothes so I can final say good-bye to Drake McIntyre." He took the ridiculous surfer chain off.
"I had fun!" Parker jumped across the kitchen counter and went for her cereals. "Who knew high school was so weird!"
"I had fun too!" Sophie sat elegantly at the table. She still wore the tiara she had won and her short pink dress that Nate found so distracting .
"Of course you two had fun, you weren't stuck in an office with thugs who wanted to beat you up. And you managed to dance."
"Thankfully our high school days are over" Nate went to his desk an started opening the mail he didn't get to read that morning. One particular envelope caught his attention, he opened it and read through it. "Very funny Hardison!" he suddenly exclaimed. His annoyed tone contradicting his words.
"What did I do now, man?" Hardison looked up from his computer. For once he was innocent, or so he thought.
"A high school reunion? At my school?" Nate showed him the letter. "You couldn't come up with something better?" he threw it at him.
Hardison caught the sheet of paper and read it. He smirked. "This has nothing to do with me; it's genuine. Seems like Nathan Ford will be going down memory lane"
Sophie snatched the letter eagerly. "Oh, it's next week. You should go Nate. We can go shopping for…."
"I'm not going!" he poured some whiskey in a glass and drink it in one long sip then filled the glass a second time.
"Nate…" Sophie whined "Of course you're going. We're going to have some much fun." Her eyes light up already thinking about what character she could play.
"We?" Nate raised his eyebrow.
"Well, I'm coming with you. You don't want to go without a date, do you? Where will you find someone else who can put up with you"
Eliot snickered soon followed by Hardison.
Nate glared at them and then turned to Sophie. "I'm not going and that's my final decision" he went upstairs declaring officially over the discussion.
"Well, what a spoilsport!" Sophie put her hands on her hips indignantly.
"He should really go" Eliot commented seriously. "He needs a distraction."
"He's right." Hardison agreed. "Since he came back from prison he's been so uptight" The other raised their eyebrows "I mean, more than usual"
Sophie looked at the stairs with an evil smile. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it!"
Fortunately for Nate, no one mentioned the reunion all week. The day had arrived and he was looking through some possible client files with Eliot and Hardison. Parker was also there, but she wasn't really helping. Sophie was mysteriously missing and that scared him. She hasn't insisted on him going to that stupid reunion, even though she had been looking forward going with him. She was planning something, she had to be.
"Parker!" Hardison shouted annoyed. "Will you leave my sodas alone?"
The thief was juggling with three sodas and suddenly stopped when Hardison shouted.
"What?" she shrugged. "I'm bored and this is fun!"
Then she opened the sodas right next to where Nate was sitting and the orange soda exploded all over the mastermind.
"Parker!" he shouted standing up quickly. He was completely soaked with sticky orange soda.
"Ops" the blond looked guilty.
"Really?" he looked at her in disbelieve. "You didn't know they were going to do that"
"You better have a shower, man" Hardison told him. "Sticky soda can be very uncomfortable, I know all about it"
Groaning, Nate made is way upstairs for a shower. After he made sure that he got all of the soda out, including his hair, he went back in the bedroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. He opened his wardrobe only to find all his clothes gone.
"What the hell…?"
He opened his drawers, but everything was gone. "Very funny guys!" he shouted downstairs.
He looked around and saw his black Armani suit laying on his bed, together with a white shirt, socks and underwear. He knew what they were doing. He wasn't going to get dressed up for the reunion, even if that meant staying all night in just his towel. But after five minutes he was starting to get cold and uncomfortable. Reluctantly he put the only clothes he had left.
After he got dressed he heard someone behind him. There was Sophie wearing a knockout red dress. For a second there he lost the ability of thinking, but he soon recovered.
"Was this your evil plan?" he asked already knowing the answered.
She smirked going closer to him. She ran her hands through his wet hair to smooth it down.
"You know I'm still not going, right?" he tried to ignore her perfume invading his senses. He was not going to be seduced into it.
"Oh, Nate. Why don't you want to go? You've got nothing to be ashamed about"
"Haven't I? I'm not exactly in a good place. If you remember, I'm still a fugitive."
"Technically there is no record about your imprisonment." She pointed out.
He sighed. "I can't really tell them what kind of job I do"
"You can say you're a consultant. After they see you wearing an Armani, they'll assume you make a lot of money and won't bother asking further questions" She looked him straight into the eyes. "These are only excuses. What's the real reason?"
"I don't want to see the pity in their eyes." He avoided her eyes. "With some of them I was still in contact… when Sam died. I can already hear their thoughts. Look at him, how tragic when he son died. Some of them were even at the funeral"
"Oh Nate…" she ran a hand over his arm. "I'll be there. I'll make sure that the conversation doesn't go there. It's not a reason to avoid the all thing. Haven't you got old friends that you would like to see again?"
He smiled. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing some of my old friends."
"So, let's go." She put her arm through his.
"So, this was your strategy? Talk me into it right at the end"
"No," she smirked. "I was hoping this dress would have been all the persuasion you needed."
"Yeah, when you are dressed like that, it's quite hard to say no to you"
"I'll have to keep that in mind" she smiled flirtatiously .
Nate's old high school wasn't very far. It took them fifteen minutes to reach it by car. When they got inside the gym, they were stunned by the decorations.
"Why have I got a feeling of deja-vu?" Nate whispered to Sophie.
She laughed "At least this time you are not Drake McIntyre, but just Nathan Ford"
Whoever organized this event went really over the top for just a simple reunion. A live band was playing on a stage. The ceiling was decorated with hundreds of light, creating the effect of a night sky filled with stars. At the center of the gym, there was a running fountain and all the walls were covered in old photos and annuals.
"Oh, let me go and see how Nathan Ford was in high school" she dragged to the closest annual.
"Hasn't Hardison bought my old annual from ebay?" he questioned.
"Where are you?" she found the picture of a younger Nate. "Here! Oh, you were so cute!" she teased him. "Look at all that curly hair"
"That was my first year" he exclaimed. "Boy, was it strange."
They continued looking through the photos. "You were in the basketball team?" she asked when they stopped in front of the team's picture.
"Don't sound so surprise!" he exclaimed offended. "I was quite the an athletic. I got in team in my second year"
"So," she smiled. "Did you have a bunch of girls going after you just because you were in team?"
"Not really" he sighed. "The football team was more popular than us. They had all the cute girls."
"Oh, poor baby" she playfully patted his cheek.
"We did arrive in a final one year"
"Nate Ford? Is that you?" someone called him.
Nate turned around. "Ed?" he soon recognized the man. "Oh my God, it's been so long" he embraced the man.
"It has been"
"Sophie, this is Edward Kelley. He is the State Attorney now, but when we were young he was my partner in crime"
She raised her eyebrow interested "Nice to meet Mr. Kelley " Sophie shook his hand.
"Please, call me Ed." He smiled. "Oh boy weren't we two troublemakers! I didn't know you were coming. I think they had sent the letter of invitation first in L.A. , but Maggie told them you were living in Boston now."
"Yeah," he put his hands in his pockets and looked down. "I moved about a year ago"
"Well, it's good to see you back"
"Nate" Sophie put a hand on his arm. "I'm going to get us some drinks, so you two can catch up. I want to hear all about your stories"
Nate nodded and watched her leave. When he turned around Ed was observing him smirking. "Yes?"
"She looks nice"
"She is just a colleague… and a friend"
"I'm sure." He grinned. "I wish my wife were here. She would have been so happy to see you after all the stories I have told her about you, but my little one, Sally, has the flu." He looked down embarrassed at the mention of his kids.
"It's okay." Nate reassured him knowing what was bothering him. "How old are they now?"
"Carter is nine years old. He is a basketball player too. And Sally is five."
"That's good, I'm happy for you" he smiled sadly.
"Nate, I…"
"Here's your drink" Sophie interrupted them. "They are playing our song. Let's dance"
Nate looked at her in question but followed her lead. "Sure. Excuse us, Ed"
He brought her to the centre of the dance floor and they started swinging. "Our song?" he asked.
She shrugged "I heard where the conversation was going and I thought of a diversion. And how do you know that this isn't our song?" she raised her eyebrow in challenge.
"Because I know our song and this isn't it" He smiled. "But thank you for the save" he told her tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Sophie leaned her cheek in his hand. "Anytime" she whispered and then laid her head on his shoulder. After a couple of minutes of slow dancing, he started humming a familiar tune in her ear.
She chuckled and lifted her head back up to look in his eyes. "So, which one of these women was your date on senior prom night?" she teased.
Nate started looking around and then a familiar face caught his attention. "There she is. Cindy Baxton. We dated for a couple of months, but then she went back to her ex, Chris Travis, soon after graduation day"
"Did you even reach, what is it, second base?"
He chuckled "You're joking, right? Her father was a cop. I had to take her back home as soon as the dance finished. He wasn't too happy that Jimmy Ford's son was taking her little girl to prom night. If he knew what her little girl did behind his back. I think I was part of her rebellious period."
"Bad boys are always so hot" she smiled while running her hands suggestively down his firm chest.
"I was member of the chess club. I wasn't really the bad boy type. Just the son of a known criminal."
Cindy caught his eye and she started waving to him enthusiastically. "Oh, boy!" he whispered.
"Let's go." Sophie pulled him towards the woman. "If you're good, I may let you reach second base tonight" she whispered into his ear.
Nate looked at her hopeful, but they reached the group of people before he could respond to her.
"Nathan Ford!" Cindy hugged him. "You haven't change a bit, still sexy as hell!" she eyed him like a piece of meat. She had soon recognized the expensive suit.
"Hi Cindy" he recognized the group of ladies with her. They were all her best friends. Rachel had been part of the drama club. She was the one that told Cindy to go back to Chris. Helen was still looking good. She was a former cheerleader. He actually made out with her once, when she jumped him after a match.
"Who did you bring with you?" Cindy looked at Sophie who had put an arm around Nate's waist after Cindy had hugged him.
"This is Sophie. She is my friend and date for the evening"
"Such a nice man like you, you're not married" she saw her chance.
"Hmm… divorced"
"Hey babe!" Chris Travis put his arm around his wife and kissed her hungrily.
"Chris!" Cindy pushed him away annoyed. "Not in public!"
He grinned. "You know I can't resist you"
She knew he was lying. Like she didn't know he was having an affair with his secretary. Sometimes she wished she had stayed with Nate. In those two months they had been together, he had shown her more respect than Chris had ever done in all their married years. If only she hadn't been so stupid and rebellious.
Chris laid his eyes on Sophie. "Why, aren't you beautiful? I don't remember you from high school!"
Sophie felt uncomfortable under his stare. She recognized the type and knew he was cheating on his wife. She stepped closer to Nate.
"That's because she's my date!" Nate hold her protectively against him.
"Nathan Ford! Aren't you a lucky bastard!" Chris always felt he had to prove himself in front of Nathan Ford. He didn't like that he had gone out with Cindy in those couple of months. He saw her as his propriety that he had to have back.
"Actually, I considered myself the lucky one" Sophie exclaimed. She knew Nate was about to lose his patience. He hated men like Chris that treat women badly "This party is getting boring, love. Why don't we get out of here?"
"Your right" he nodded "Nice seeing you all"
They walked out the gym with the eyes of everyone on them. "Thanks. That guy was really getting on my nerves, like he always did in high school."
"Don't worry. I was about this close to slap him too."
Nate opened the car door for her and quickly went to driver seat. "So, have I been a good boy? Can I take us to the teenagers making out spot?"
She grinned. "I think you've deserved a treat." She leaned forward and brushed his lips with hers.
"Hmm…" he kissed her. How many nights in prison had he spent dreaming about kissing her lips again? "Good"
"Take me home, lover boy" she whispered.
Nate put the car in gear and started driving off. "You know, you still haven't told me what kind of girl you were in high school"
She laughed. "You'll have to wait for my school reunion!"
THE END