Transformation (A Leverage Fanfic) Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: Sadly, still not mine so naturally, still no profit.
Please check out Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7
Please enjoy and don't forget to let me know what you think!
-----------------------------------------------------
Sophie had been sound asleep the stylish little apartment Hardison had set aside for her in the building when a loud crash sent her bolting up. She listened, groggily rubbing her hands over her face. What in the world were they doing down there?
Most people would feel threatened by an unexpected noise waking them up in the dead of night. She just yawned. There wasn’t enough energy in her body to be threatened right now and besides, the alarms would be going off all over the place if there was a real problem. Thieves tended to be paranoid by nature and after Sterling there was a ridiculous amount of security in place. Bumps in the dark just meant Hardison was playing with new equipment, Parker was doing who knows what or Eliot was venting.
She muttered to herself when she realized she wasn’t going to be able to fall back to sleep now. Regardless of feeling safe, her mind was waking up and curiosity was becoming apparent.
Swinging so her bare feet touched the carpeted floor, she stood and snatched up her nearby silk robe. Might as well see what the ruckus was about. Slipping the robe on, she fumbled with the belt around her waist. Grumbling words of disapproval left her lips directed towards her teammates. Consideration was not something that ran as a high priority in their little group. She shuffled down the stairs, seeing two forms huddled by a familiar door.
Parker and Hardison, of course. She fought back another yawn, rubbing at the back of her neck, “What is with the bloody racket down here? Some people are actually trying to sleep.”
Hardison turned towards her and face pale like he had just seen a ghost. Parker carefully used a finger to push the door, afraid of making too much noise- which went out the window anyhow when she pushed a little harder and another crash echoed through the hall.
“Oops.” Parker stared down at the door that was now lying on the floor in front of her feet. She looked up with wide, panic filled eyes between the door, the inhabitants of the apartment and to Hardison and Sophie’s stunned faces.
“Did you just…” Hardison started but snapped his jaw closed and hesitantly looked through the empty doorway.
Sophie didn’t move for a second, eyebrows raised towards her hairline. Shaking her head as reality fell back into place she moved carefully forward, looking at the now revealed entrance. Had she really broken down a door by pushing it with a finger?
Parker looked at the door again before puffing out her chest with a proud look on her face. That’d show the zombie!
“I did it. I knocked down the door with just the strength in my finger. Told you I had really strong ones.” She announced, hoping her voice carried enough to be intimidating. At least she couldn’t hear the sound of teeth ripping at vulnerable flesh.
Without waiting on the others she stepped into the dark room, a lone lamp laminating the place just like she had left it.
From his place on the couch Eliot huffed a breath, arms tight around the figure pressed again him. “Parker, why are you taking credit for a door I kicked in and more importantly, why aren’t you upstairs? I told ya to sit until I called for ya.”
Parker ignored him, blues eyes narrowed while they adjusted to the low lighting.
“And suddenly something makes sense,” Sophie spoke up, stepping into the room with only a momentary pause. Of all of them, she knew better how to hold herself together when it came to playing the right emotions. Distress was something best reserved for time alone.
Hardison stayed at the doorway, alternating between rubbing the back of his neck and scratching at his arm. He didn’t want to go in there. Didn’t want to face the facts he couldn’t avoid in that room. That apartment wasn’t allowed to change and he wasn’t allowed in. As long as he didn’t pass the threshold he could go one with his happy delusion that Nate wasn’t really gone.
Sophie looked back, seeing the indecision on the young hacker’s face and felt a sympathetic smile pull against her lips. Of course, he was too young, too inexperienced to know what to properly do with that kind of pain. She offered him a hand, her smile turning slightly encouraging when he surrendered one of his hands to her.
Parker moved further into the room, looking at the pair on the couch through the soft lights and frowned when she realized how relaxed Eliot was. That thing was actually curled up against him, cowering and he was acting like he wanted to protect it.
She scolded him, “Eliot! You’re supposed to kill it, not cuddle it! Cuddling is not an approved method of death!”
An annoyed growl in warning was her answer.
Hardison remembered what Parker had said about a zombie when he heard her exclamation and moved towards the blond. He didn’t know what in the name of Spock was going on but he wanted to be near her just in case. A pained hiss came from him when he got too close to one of the chairs, something sharp embedding itself into his foot.
Sophie stepped back towards the wall, finding the light switch and flipping it up. Calmly she located Hardison first, finding him collapsed into a chair. She winced slightly at the sight of the red spot starting to bloom over the bottom of his sock, a small glass shard visibly sticking out of his foot.
Parker hovered nearby, every now and then glancing towards the floor where a rather large kitchen knife laid abandoned. The look she was giving off created an interesting meaning towards ‘if looks could kill’.
Sophie’s eyes moved slowly up from the disturbing sight of a knife on the floor to Eliot sprawled out on the couch. She couldn’t tell if he was more focused on glaring at Parker or on the person pressing against him.
Something caught in her throat as she did a double take. Though she couldn’t see his face, that messy hair, the outline, everything about the man screamed familiar and her heart was sent galloping in her chest.
Nate squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face against Eliot to shield his eyes from the unexpected light and rubbing at the ear not pressed into the hitter’s upper body. The fingers on his free hands were digging into his shirt. The sharp, coppery smell of blood invaded his senses and he felt an odd sensation in his jaw, fought the sudden urge to bite into something. Parker’s commentary was only serving to make him even more uneasy.
“Parker, help Hardison,” Sophie numbly ordered.
Parker huffed at the idea, not wanting to take her eyes off the intruder.
Sophie insisted softly, “Please Parker.”
Arms crossed over her chest, Parker moved over to the hacker, sitting on the arm of the chair he was in since he managed to dislodge the glass. He was now just staring at the couch with the dazed sort of look she had learned to associate with drug users or someone in severe shock.
Sophie, after her mind let her realize what she is seeing, moved towards the couch.
“Eliot?” she asked wanting confirmation.
He met her gaze, eyes glassy, a hand resting protectively against dark curls like he was trying to shield the man in his arms. The hitter looked down slowly, subconsciously rocking both of them in calming movements. A weak smile pulled onto his lips when Nate glanced at him almost sheepishly before hiding his face again.
“Yeah Soph,” Eliot didn’t need her to ask. “It’s him. It’s really him.”
Sophie took a choked breath, blinking at the tears trying to get loose. “Oh God, I…. Nate?” She moved to the couch, taking a seat only inches from the two men. A hand reached out, gentle fingers brushing against one of Nate’s legs.
Nate realized who else was in the room, but didn’t know how to deal with them at the moment. Things still felt too different, too off and raw. There were too many foreign urges. He didn’t want to be responsible for hurting them if something went horribly wrong. Whatever was happening, he trusted that Eliot could handle him if he needed to. He didn’t have the same kind of faith in the others.
He pulled a little tighter in on himself, into Eliot. He wanted him there, needed him for a shield as much as support. Without knowing exactly was going on he was too much of a risk in his own mind.
“Nate? Can that really be you?” She prodded, her voice squeaking the slightest bit and breathy in an attempt to hold back the tears.
From his place on the chair Hardison looked on, bloody sock being used as a temporary bandage. He didn’t know what to think. Denial was one thing but either Nate really was a few feet from him or he had a frighteningly good imagination. He was straining his ears for the mastermind to speak, to confirm whether Hardison was losing his mind or that he was legitimately there.
He tried to prompt him, “Nate, man, what Sophie said. You really here? Because I really need to know if I’m bananas.”
A snort answered from the couch but there were no actual words. Instead the man burrowed closer to Eliot, the ball he was curling himself into beginning to look painfully tight.
Eliot frowned at Nate’s reaction. It was the team and he was acting like they were complete strangers. There was no reason for him to be afraid.
“Who are you hiding from?” He asked softly.
Nate shook his head, not willing to say or do more than he had to with the others so close.
“Nate,” Eliot spoke again, slipping a hand down between them and capturing his chin, lightly prodding him into looking up. “What is it? You have to talk to me.”
Resolve flashing across his face, Nate met his eyes. “Don’t Eliot. Don’t make me. I told you, I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t even know how I’m here, how I’m alive. I don’t want them to be in danger, not from me.”
Eliot wrinkled his brow, not sure how to respond to that. He could tell Nate all he wanted that he wasn’t going to be a threat to any of them but what he wanted was promises, a guarantee and that wasn’t something he could offer. He had already said what he could.
“I could hurt them, don’t you see?” Nate’s voice was a mix between pure stubbornness and pleading. “I shouldn’t even have come here. I was just afraid, I didn’t know what to do but this was the wrong choice. What if those people come for me, what if they end up here? I can’t put Parker through that again, can’t risk any of you. I just… I need to get my things together and go.”
Eliot sighed, decision already made before he even gave himself time to think it over. Slipping his other hand down, he caressed his lover’s face, thumbs brushing the stubble there as he tilted his chin. He leaned down until their foreheads were touching.
With Nate’s face cradled between his hands, Eliot met his eyes with just as much determination as he had shown. “You’re not getting this, are you? You’re mine. There isn’t anyone or anything that is going to change that. Nobody’s takes what’s mine, not as long as I can help it. Might as well get that nonsense out of your head now, because you’re not going anywhere and I’m not giving you up. Do you understand yet?”
Nate continued to plead, “Eliot…”
The hitter refused to budge, “I asked if you understood. Nobody expects you to run, Nate. Nobody wants you too. Besides, it’s not like they can’t see you. The team already knows you’re here and they’d never forgive you for disappearing without a word to them. You know how the girls are, always overacting and holding a grudge forever.”
“Hey!” Hardison automatically protested from across the room, thankful for something normal to react too. “You forgot me.”
Eliot flashed him a mischievous grin and a wink. “I know what I said and I included all three of you.”
Hardison frowned at the mock insult but caught on to the game. He shrugged it off. So long as it got Nate to talking to them, he’d play along. “I know you did not just call me a chick.”
“Just a little girly.”
The hacker snorted, “Girly. I’ll show you girly. At least I’m not the one with girly hair, Fabio.”
“Maybe so, but I can pull this off and still keep my masculinity.” Eliot taunted before tilting his head and capturing the older man’s grinning lips with his own. Nate was taken by surprise but responded positively enough, pressing into the kiss.
Hardison cleared his throat and turned away, looking anywhere but at the couple on the couch; so much for suspicions.
Sophie coughed delicately into her hand and looked towards Parker and Hardison. It was his voice at least, she would know it anywhere and if it meant having him back and alive, she could forgive him and Eliot for their little secret.
Parker was the one to break the growing silence. “So… we’re not killing it?”
“Parker!” Sophie frowned.
She looked at the older woman confused. “Am I the only one who understands why a zombie is a problem?”
“I told you before Parker, I’m not a zombie,” Nate answered, saving her from having to answer. “I’m not even dead, anymore. I don’t think. Regardless you have my word I won’t try to eat anyone’s brains.”
Relief flashed over Sophie’s features the second he started to speak. She looked towards him, actually getting to see his face and felt the tears finally force their way free.
Eliot had the decency to look guilty about the public kiss they had just shared when he caught sight of the tears streaking down her cheeks.
Sophie reached out and grabbed one of Nate’s hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Welcome home, Nate. He’s right you know, none of us want you to leave. If something happens we’ll deal with it. That’s what we do. And no matter what, we don’t give up on one of our own. I just hope you realize how lucky you are, to have someone that cares so much.” She gave his hand one more squeeze before looking up at Eliot, offering him a kind smile and letting go of Nate’s hand.
“I second that. Ladies and Gentlemen- though I used the term loosely for certain long haired cowboys-Nathan Ford is back in the land of the living and Hell just froze over!” Hardison added with eyes trained on the boss.
Sophie rolled her eyes and laughed.
Parker’s face was unclear, indecision obvious. She was sucking at her bottom lip again as she took in everyone’s reactions. They thought Nate was Nate. Which was important because how could it fool them all?
She stubbornly wiped the back of her hands over her eyes, not sure why they were stinging like that. “I don’t understand. He was dead. Everyone was positive he was dead. And now you’re telling me he’s not dead but he’s not a zombie but that’s the only way a dead person can be not dead. Why would everyone say he was dead if he wasn’t? You aren’t supposed to be that cruel.”
Her hand swiped over her eyes again, this time her knuckles coming back wet. She took a trembling breath and the water ran down her face. Using her fingertips she tried to catch one of the droplets, started to realize she was actually crying.
Tear filled eyes jumped from one member of the team to the next. She wasn’t sure what to do, wasn’t sure she wanted them to see her like this. Part of her wanted nothing more than to run.
“Is he real? Is he really real?” She asked though a sniffle.
Nate started, “Parker, I know this is difficult to understand. I don’t eve…”
“Not you!” Parker interrupted and the tears fells harder. “Not yet. I want to hear it from them, not you. You could be trying to trick me. They never would.”
Hardison reached up, wrapping his arms around the small girl’s waist and pulled her into his lap, cradling her close. “Girl, listen to me. Do you think Sophie and Eliot would be over there if that wasn’t really Nate? Nobody can get away with trying to doppelgang our boy, we’d know. You just have to trust we know what we’re doing here, even if he is streaking under that coat. For the record man, that’s nasty because unlike some people in this room I have no interest in what’s under there.”
Parker looked at him, settling back against his chest so she could see his face better. “Promise?”
He nodded, “Solemn oath, baby. I don’t doubt for a second that’s our Nate.”
Sophie nodded her head in agreement, glad to see Parker relaxing into Hardison’s hold, “Definitely Nate. We’ll figure the rest out later. What’s important is that he’s here now, no matter the reason.”
She looked at Eliot expectantly. “Darlin, do you really think for a second I’d let him be anywhere near you if I wasn’t 100%?”
Parker nodded her head in acceptance of that answer and finally looked at Nate, raising one brow as indication for him to speak.
Nate leaned back a little more onto Eliot’s chest, content to see his entire family in one place, together, even if he wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. “Yeah Parker, it’s really, honestly me.”
That seemed to be enough for her, at least for now. “Oh okay, sorry for trying to slice you up earlier then.” She redirected her looked towards Eliot. “Does this mean cuddling to death is an option?”
Disclaimer: Sadly, still not mine so naturally, still no profit.
Please check out Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7
Please enjoy and don't forget to let me know what you think!
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Sophie had been sound asleep the stylish little apartment Hardison had set aside for her in the building when a loud crash sent her bolting up. She listened, groggily rubbing her hands over her face. What in the world were they doing down there?
Most people would feel threatened by an unexpected noise waking them up in the dead of night. She just yawned. There wasn’t enough energy in her body to be threatened right now and besides, the alarms would be going off all over the place if there was a real problem. Thieves tended to be paranoid by nature and after Sterling there was a ridiculous amount of security in place. Bumps in the dark just meant Hardison was playing with new equipment, Parker was doing who knows what or Eliot was venting.
She muttered to herself when she realized she wasn’t going to be able to fall back to sleep now. Regardless of feeling safe, her mind was waking up and curiosity was becoming apparent.
Swinging so her bare feet touched the carpeted floor, she stood and snatched up her nearby silk robe. Might as well see what the ruckus was about. Slipping the robe on, she fumbled with the belt around her waist. Grumbling words of disapproval left her lips directed towards her teammates. Consideration was not something that ran as a high priority in their little group. She shuffled down the stairs, seeing two forms huddled by a familiar door.
Parker and Hardison, of course. She fought back another yawn, rubbing at the back of her neck, “What is with the bloody racket down here? Some people are actually trying to sleep.”
Hardison turned towards her and face pale like he had just seen a ghost. Parker carefully used a finger to push the door, afraid of making too much noise- which went out the window anyhow when she pushed a little harder and another crash echoed through the hall.
“Oops.” Parker stared down at the door that was now lying on the floor in front of her feet. She looked up with wide, panic filled eyes between the door, the inhabitants of the apartment and to Hardison and Sophie’s stunned faces.
“Did you just…” Hardison started but snapped his jaw closed and hesitantly looked through the empty doorway.
Sophie didn’t move for a second, eyebrows raised towards her hairline. Shaking her head as reality fell back into place she moved carefully forward, looking at the now revealed entrance. Had she really broken down a door by pushing it with a finger?
Parker looked at the door again before puffing out her chest with a proud look on her face. That’d show the zombie!
“I did it. I knocked down the door with just the strength in my finger. Told you I had really strong ones.” She announced, hoping her voice carried enough to be intimidating. At least she couldn’t hear the sound of teeth ripping at vulnerable flesh.
Without waiting on the others she stepped into the dark room, a lone lamp laminating the place just like she had left it.
From his place on the couch Eliot huffed a breath, arms tight around the figure pressed again him. “Parker, why are you taking credit for a door I kicked in and more importantly, why aren’t you upstairs? I told ya to sit until I called for ya.”
Parker ignored him, blues eyes narrowed while they adjusted to the low lighting.
“And suddenly something makes sense,” Sophie spoke up, stepping into the room with only a momentary pause. Of all of them, she knew better how to hold herself together when it came to playing the right emotions. Distress was something best reserved for time alone.
Hardison stayed at the doorway, alternating between rubbing the back of his neck and scratching at his arm. He didn’t want to go in there. Didn’t want to face the facts he couldn’t avoid in that room. That apartment wasn’t allowed to change and he wasn’t allowed in. As long as he didn’t pass the threshold he could go one with his happy delusion that Nate wasn’t really gone.
Sophie looked back, seeing the indecision on the young hacker’s face and felt a sympathetic smile pull against her lips. Of course, he was too young, too inexperienced to know what to properly do with that kind of pain. She offered him a hand, her smile turning slightly encouraging when he surrendered one of his hands to her.
Parker moved further into the room, looking at the pair on the couch through the soft lights and frowned when she realized how relaxed Eliot was. That thing was actually curled up against him, cowering and he was acting like he wanted to protect it.
She scolded him, “Eliot! You’re supposed to kill it, not cuddle it! Cuddling is not an approved method of death!”
An annoyed growl in warning was her answer.
Hardison remembered what Parker had said about a zombie when he heard her exclamation and moved towards the blond. He didn’t know what in the name of Spock was going on but he wanted to be near her just in case. A pained hiss came from him when he got too close to one of the chairs, something sharp embedding itself into his foot.
Sophie stepped back towards the wall, finding the light switch and flipping it up. Calmly she located Hardison first, finding him collapsed into a chair. She winced slightly at the sight of the red spot starting to bloom over the bottom of his sock, a small glass shard visibly sticking out of his foot.
Parker hovered nearby, every now and then glancing towards the floor where a rather large kitchen knife laid abandoned. The look she was giving off created an interesting meaning towards ‘if looks could kill’.
Sophie’s eyes moved slowly up from the disturbing sight of a knife on the floor to Eliot sprawled out on the couch. She couldn’t tell if he was more focused on glaring at Parker or on the person pressing against him.
Something caught in her throat as she did a double take. Though she couldn’t see his face, that messy hair, the outline, everything about the man screamed familiar and her heart was sent galloping in her chest.
Nate squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face against Eliot to shield his eyes from the unexpected light and rubbing at the ear not pressed into the hitter’s upper body. The fingers on his free hands were digging into his shirt. The sharp, coppery smell of blood invaded his senses and he felt an odd sensation in his jaw, fought the sudden urge to bite into something. Parker’s commentary was only serving to make him even more uneasy.
“Parker, help Hardison,” Sophie numbly ordered.
Parker huffed at the idea, not wanting to take her eyes off the intruder.
Sophie insisted softly, “Please Parker.”
Arms crossed over her chest, Parker moved over to the hacker, sitting on the arm of the chair he was in since he managed to dislodge the glass. He was now just staring at the couch with the dazed sort of look she had learned to associate with drug users or someone in severe shock.
Sophie, after her mind let her realize what she is seeing, moved towards the couch.
“Eliot?” she asked wanting confirmation.
He met her gaze, eyes glassy, a hand resting protectively against dark curls like he was trying to shield the man in his arms. The hitter looked down slowly, subconsciously rocking both of them in calming movements. A weak smile pulled onto his lips when Nate glanced at him almost sheepishly before hiding his face again.
“Yeah Soph,” Eliot didn’t need her to ask. “It’s him. It’s really him.”
Sophie took a choked breath, blinking at the tears trying to get loose. “Oh God, I…. Nate?” She moved to the couch, taking a seat only inches from the two men. A hand reached out, gentle fingers brushing against one of Nate’s legs.
Nate realized who else was in the room, but didn’t know how to deal with them at the moment. Things still felt too different, too off and raw. There were too many foreign urges. He didn’t want to be responsible for hurting them if something went horribly wrong. Whatever was happening, he trusted that Eliot could handle him if he needed to. He didn’t have the same kind of faith in the others.
He pulled a little tighter in on himself, into Eliot. He wanted him there, needed him for a shield as much as support. Without knowing exactly was going on he was too much of a risk in his own mind.
“Nate? Can that really be you?” She prodded, her voice squeaking the slightest bit and breathy in an attempt to hold back the tears.
From his place on the chair Hardison looked on, bloody sock being used as a temporary bandage. He didn’t know what to think. Denial was one thing but either Nate really was a few feet from him or he had a frighteningly good imagination. He was straining his ears for the mastermind to speak, to confirm whether Hardison was losing his mind or that he was legitimately there.
He tried to prompt him, “Nate, man, what Sophie said. You really here? Because I really need to know if I’m bananas.”
A snort answered from the couch but there were no actual words. Instead the man burrowed closer to Eliot, the ball he was curling himself into beginning to look painfully tight.
Eliot frowned at Nate’s reaction. It was the team and he was acting like they were complete strangers. There was no reason for him to be afraid.
“Who are you hiding from?” He asked softly.
Nate shook his head, not willing to say or do more than he had to with the others so close.
“Nate,” Eliot spoke again, slipping a hand down between them and capturing his chin, lightly prodding him into looking up. “What is it? You have to talk to me.”
Resolve flashing across his face, Nate met his eyes. “Don’t Eliot. Don’t make me. I told you, I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t even know how I’m here, how I’m alive. I don’t want them to be in danger, not from me.”
Eliot wrinkled his brow, not sure how to respond to that. He could tell Nate all he wanted that he wasn’t going to be a threat to any of them but what he wanted was promises, a guarantee and that wasn’t something he could offer. He had already said what he could.
“I could hurt them, don’t you see?” Nate’s voice was a mix between pure stubbornness and pleading. “I shouldn’t even have come here. I was just afraid, I didn’t know what to do but this was the wrong choice. What if those people come for me, what if they end up here? I can’t put Parker through that again, can’t risk any of you. I just… I need to get my things together and go.”
Eliot sighed, decision already made before he even gave himself time to think it over. Slipping his other hand down, he caressed his lover’s face, thumbs brushing the stubble there as he tilted his chin. He leaned down until their foreheads were touching.
With Nate’s face cradled between his hands, Eliot met his eyes with just as much determination as he had shown. “You’re not getting this, are you? You’re mine. There isn’t anyone or anything that is going to change that. Nobody’s takes what’s mine, not as long as I can help it. Might as well get that nonsense out of your head now, because you’re not going anywhere and I’m not giving you up. Do you understand yet?”
Nate continued to plead, “Eliot…”
The hitter refused to budge, “I asked if you understood. Nobody expects you to run, Nate. Nobody wants you too. Besides, it’s not like they can’t see you. The team already knows you’re here and they’d never forgive you for disappearing without a word to them. You know how the girls are, always overacting and holding a grudge forever.”
“Hey!” Hardison automatically protested from across the room, thankful for something normal to react too. “You forgot me.”
Eliot flashed him a mischievous grin and a wink. “I know what I said and I included all three of you.”
Hardison frowned at the mock insult but caught on to the game. He shrugged it off. So long as it got Nate to talking to them, he’d play along. “I know you did not just call me a chick.”
“Just a little girly.”
The hacker snorted, “Girly. I’ll show you girly. At least I’m not the one with girly hair, Fabio.”
“Maybe so, but I can pull this off and still keep my masculinity.” Eliot taunted before tilting his head and capturing the older man’s grinning lips with his own. Nate was taken by surprise but responded positively enough, pressing into the kiss.
Hardison cleared his throat and turned away, looking anywhere but at the couple on the couch; so much for suspicions.
Sophie coughed delicately into her hand and looked towards Parker and Hardison. It was his voice at least, she would know it anywhere and if it meant having him back and alive, she could forgive him and Eliot for their little secret.
Parker was the one to break the growing silence. “So… we’re not killing it?”
“Parker!” Sophie frowned.
She looked at the older woman confused. “Am I the only one who understands why a zombie is a problem?”
“I told you before Parker, I’m not a zombie,” Nate answered, saving her from having to answer. “I’m not even dead, anymore. I don’t think. Regardless you have my word I won’t try to eat anyone’s brains.”
Relief flashed over Sophie’s features the second he started to speak. She looked towards him, actually getting to see his face and felt the tears finally force their way free.
Eliot had the decency to look guilty about the public kiss they had just shared when he caught sight of the tears streaking down her cheeks.
Sophie reached out and grabbed one of Nate’s hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Welcome home, Nate. He’s right you know, none of us want you to leave. If something happens we’ll deal with it. That’s what we do. And no matter what, we don’t give up on one of our own. I just hope you realize how lucky you are, to have someone that cares so much.” She gave his hand one more squeeze before looking up at Eliot, offering him a kind smile and letting go of Nate’s hand.
“I second that. Ladies and Gentlemen- though I used the term loosely for certain long haired cowboys-Nathan Ford is back in the land of the living and Hell just froze over!” Hardison added with eyes trained on the boss.
Sophie rolled her eyes and laughed.
Parker’s face was unclear, indecision obvious. She was sucking at her bottom lip again as she took in everyone’s reactions. They thought Nate was Nate. Which was important because how could it fool them all?
She stubbornly wiped the back of her hands over her eyes, not sure why they were stinging like that. “I don’t understand. He was dead. Everyone was positive he was dead. And now you’re telling me he’s not dead but he’s not a zombie but that’s the only way a dead person can be not dead. Why would everyone say he was dead if he wasn’t? You aren’t supposed to be that cruel.”
Her hand swiped over her eyes again, this time her knuckles coming back wet. She took a trembling breath and the water ran down her face. Using her fingertips she tried to catch one of the droplets, started to realize she was actually crying.
Tear filled eyes jumped from one member of the team to the next. She wasn’t sure what to do, wasn’t sure she wanted them to see her like this. Part of her wanted nothing more than to run.
“Is he real? Is he really real?” She asked though a sniffle.
Nate started, “Parker, I know this is difficult to understand. I don’t eve…”
“Not you!” Parker interrupted and the tears fells harder. “Not yet. I want to hear it from them, not you. You could be trying to trick me. They never would.”
Hardison reached up, wrapping his arms around the small girl’s waist and pulled her into his lap, cradling her close. “Girl, listen to me. Do you think Sophie and Eliot would be over there if that wasn’t really Nate? Nobody can get away with trying to doppelgang our boy, we’d know. You just have to trust we know what we’re doing here, even if he is streaking under that coat. For the record man, that’s nasty because unlike some people in this room I have no interest in what’s under there.”
Parker looked at him, settling back against his chest so she could see his face better. “Promise?”
He nodded, “Solemn oath, baby. I don’t doubt for a second that’s our Nate.”
Sophie nodded her head in agreement, glad to see Parker relaxing into Hardison’s hold, “Definitely Nate. We’ll figure the rest out later. What’s important is that he’s here now, no matter the reason.”
She looked at Eliot expectantly. “Darlin, do you really think for a second I’d let him be anywhere near you if I wasn’t 100%?”
Parker nodded her head in acceptance of that answer and finally looked at Nate, raising one brow as indication for him to speak.
Nate leaned back a little more onto Eliot’s chest, content to see his entire family in one place, together, even if he wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. “Yeah Parker, it’s really, honestly me.”
That seemed to be enough for her, at least for now. “Oh okay, sorry for trying to slice you up earlier then.” She redirected her looked towards Eliot. “Does this mean cuddling to death is an option?”