Leverage fic: A Cafe in Paris (here we go again)
Title: A Cafe in Paris (Here we are again)
Genre: general - flirty
Word Count: 4248
Rating: G
Pairings: Pre- Nate/Sophie
Warnings: None
Summary: Missing scene from the end of "The Stork Job"
This is written for multicolor . I got a great prompt and I loved writing this. :) I hope it makes your Christmas dreams come true.
Sophie stood off to the side, near the new car they'd picked up so that they could leave the bus with the kids at the World Health Organization. Parker was saying her goodbyes, hugging each child as though she was trying to imbibe each one of their bodies with all the love and hope the strange thief had to offer. Sophie shifted her long legs, trying to take the pressure off her feet, briefly regretting her choice in footwear. High-heeled boots were adorable, but far from practical. Sophie shook the thought off. Nothing was more important than wearing the perfect shoes to solidify an outfit, or a character. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
Dark eyes drifted lazily back to the long form of Nate Ford as he finished the niceties involved with smoothing over the hand off of the overly sugared children. It was nice to be able to lean back and watch him simply own a situation. There was something inherently sexy about Nate when he was in full take-charge mode. He kept making eye contact with the flustered young worker, her high color and broken speech pattern indicating that she was just as flustered by his electric blue eyes as Sophie herself when pinned by them. She watched as his large hand reached out and reassuringly patted the younger woman on the shoulder in a clearly paternal manner. Sophie laughed as her cute face fell, having read the signal correctly and feeling rejected. Disappointment marred her features, but the woman recovered quickly, smiling perkily and sticking her hand out for Nate to shake. Oblivious to the young lady's interest, Nate shook her hand, turned, and walked away. She faded from his thoughts before he'd even taken two steps toward the car and the rest of his team.
Sophie inhaled sharply as she caught Nate's eyes locked on her face. He looked determined and ready for a fight. Knowing immediately what he was bracing for, Sophie opened her mouth just as he was within earshot. “You're not getting out of this, Nate. You owe me.” Nate's determined features shifted, just enough that a blind man could have read his displeasure. Smiling brightly, Sophie continued undaunted. “We're going to Paris and you're going to love it.”
Sighing heavily Nate opened the driver's side of the nondescript black car and slid inside. As Sophie climbed in next to him, she could have sworn she saw a small smile playing at the corner of Nate's mouth. Grinning, Sophie buckled the seat belt, caught Nate's eye and winked playfully. This was going to be an amazing trip.
=//=
Once the team landed in Paris, they disbanded. It seemed that everyone was feeling a little 'peopled' out and they'd made a group decision to have some alone time. Fortunately, no one mentioned to Nate that they were going to take time off, and he was left standing in the hotel lobby waiting for Sophie early the next morning.
The elevator doors opened and Sophie was able to spot Nate immediately. He was sitting in one of the high back chairs meant more for privacy rather than comfort, sipping espresso and reading a local paper. Sophie hummed happily as she took in his crisp suit and polished shoes. He'd dressed up for her.
Knowing that the approach was vital, Sophie took her time getting to Nate, letting her body sway and bounce with a careless grace. He was bound to notice her and there was no hurry. Keeping her features neutral, she ignored the interest of several men in the lobby as she walked by. It never failed to amuse her how easily she was able to draw the attention of men. They were so easy. Sure, when she was younger, she worried that her beauty would fade and the attention would wane, but it seemed that confidence was universally sexy and she had that in spades. She figured that she'd be well into her sixties before she stopped catching the eye of men. If she played her cards right, it would take longer than that.
Sophie was only a few feet away when Nate glanced up, seeming to notice her for the first time. The ghost of a smile on his lips belied the immediacy of his attention, though. Nate Ford was a highly observant man and Sophie was fairly certain that he'd been watching her for a while. More to the point, he'd been watching the heads turn as she'd cut her path to him. And he'd liked it.
Whatever their relationship was at this point in their flirtation, Sophie knew that somewhere deep inside, Nate loved the fact that no matter how many heads she turned, she only had eyes for him. Slightly disgusted at such a male mentality, Sophie rolled her dark eyes. Nate chuckled, as though he could read her mind, and Sophie had to forcibly control herself from rolling them again.
Folding his paper and placing it on the table next to him, Nate stood. For a moment it looked like he might lean in and kiss her cheek, in the European way, but he stopped himself at the last moment, looking around the lobby. “Where's everyone else?”
Keeping the disappointment off her face, Sophie smiled before answering. “You didn't hear? We're on our own. Elliot's had enough of us, Hardison's tormenting something -”
Nate interrupted. “Torrent.”
“What?” Sophie blinked. Her train of thought was completely gone. Nate slipped one arm through hers and was leading her out of the hotel and in to the city.
“He's 'torrenting.” Nate said it conversationally, like Sophie should understand what he meant. She continued to stare blankly at him. “He's downloading something to watch later.”
“Oh, so, Hardison's doing something geeky and I'm fairly certain that Parker is casing a museum.” Nate held open the hotel door and signaled the doorman to hail a car for them. Sophie smiled. This felt right. “That just leaves you, me and the entire city of Paris.”
A dark car pulled to a stop in front of them. The looming but quiet doorman opened the door and Sophie poured herself into the seats, quickly making room for Nate to climb in next to her. Sophie admired the way he folded his long frame into the back seat. It was always such a marvel to her that this graceful, almost elegant, man lived within the hard, cold version of Nate that was left behind after Sam's death. She was relieved, really, because she was afraid he'd been killed, too.
In her memories, this soft-spoken, earnest man was the Nate she longed for at night. He'd been all fire and righteousness in the beginning, and the only thing he'd been drunk on was his own intelligence and the chase. She hoped that a day in Paris would return some of that to him. She missed the spark, the heat, in his eyes. It was there, but it was tainted with revenge and anger, and that broke her heart. Sophie knew that she'd never be able to give him his innocence or purity back, but maybe, over time, bits of him would heal in positive ways.
Sophie could feel Nate's eyes on her, bringing her back out of her thoughts.
“All right, Soph, you've got me all to yourself. Where do you want to go?” Nate's cerulean eyes were locked on her lips and her mouth suddenly felt very dry.
Unconsciously, she darted her tongue out and wet her lips. Sophie's eyes lowered to his mouth. She was vaguely aware that he'd asked her a question and the silence was filling up the space between them, but she couldn't think.
Amusement lacing every word, Nate said, “You seem hungry. We'll eat, first.”
Breaking contact with his face, Sophie looked at his ear, out the window, at the driver, then back to his face. She could feel her cheeks were flushed and she wanted to scream. Nate, in comparison, looked cool and unaffected. Damn that man. She was seconds from a full-on pout when she noticed his left hand clenched so tight his knuckles where white, as though he had to physically keep himself from touching her.
Smiling smugly, Sophie met his gaze once more before saying softly, “I'm not the only one who's hungry, Mr. Ford.”
Nate opened his mouth, and then closed it. He shifted his body and leaned forward to speak quietly with the driver. The car made a quick left and headed off.
=//=
The rest of the car ride was made in relative silence. Nate stared out one window and she stared out the other. Despite the seat being large and roomy, she felt almost unbearably close to him. If she crossed her legs in just the right way, she would brush up against his leg. The urge to touch him was so strong, but she knew better. They weren't in that place. Her body ached from holding it still, demanding what her heart was incapable of doing - resisting the appeal of Nate Ford.
It was almost painful, really, being this close to him, knowing that the longer they put off the inevitable conclusion of a sexual relationship, the worse the tension was going to be as they went on. While Sophie was completely willing to acknowledge what proximity and banter did to her, Nate seemed stubbornly unwilling to admit to any of it. He was like a child hiding under a blanket who was afraid of the dark. Sure, it was dark under the blanket, but he had control of the monsters inside his self-made tent. It was endearing and frustrating, much like the man sitting next to her.
The car began to slow, stopping in front of a typical street cafe. Nate leaned forward and paid the driver before opening the door of the car. Standing on the sidewalk, Nate smiled as he offered a large hand to Sophie. Taking it gratefully, she slowly got out of the car. Feeling impish and frustrated, she made sure that she flashed a substantial bit of leg before she stood up. Sophie smothered her look of triumph as she noticed Nate's blue eyes freeze on her exposed limbs and darken with desire. She was under the impression she shouldn't be the only suffering during their little outing today.
Apparently she wasn't as successful as she'd hoped at keeping the look from her face because when Nate met her eyes, he gave her a shrewd look before murmuring a slightly warning, “Sophie” in her ear. Sophie put her most innocent look on her face and blinked her dark eyes at Nate, just once. Nate barked in laughter, quick and delighted, shaking his head as he led her to one of the tables facing the street.
=//=
It was some time later as they were sipping coffee and watching the pedestrians walking up and down the street, before either of them spoke. The long silences, the comfortable ones, not the ones fraught with accusation and anger, were her favorite things about spending time with Nate. Sophie never had to really be anyone. Sure, sometimes that was scary and confusing, and she could see it being a serious problem in the future, but right now, the freedom to just be was perfection.
Nate had procured another paper and was lazily doing a crossword puzzle as Sophie kept her eyes on the people She contented herself with making up stories about them. Sometimes she tried to accurately guess what they were doing, who they were with, sussing out the relationships, but other times she cast them in wild stories. It appealed to the actor inside of her to create elaborate personalities for the clearly mundane people walking the streets. It was an excellent exercise for her grifter brain as well.
Watching people without sizing them up as marks was hard, and she soon found herself in a nonverbal conversation with a gentleman seated across from them, just behind Nate's shoulder. She was half-way through the dance, all eye contact and smiles, when she saw her way in. He was smiling at her. Wanting to anchor that, keep his interest, she saluted him with her cup before taking a long sip. He followed her lead and they both took a drink. The obviously wealthy man was now completely hooked, a smitten smile on his face.
Across from her, Nate shifted, seemingly needing to stretch, but Sophie knew better. She watched in frozen terror as he locked eyes with her before “accidentally” knocking his pencil to the ground. Nudging the pencil with the tip of his shoe as he leaned down, effectively rolling it behind him, Nate casually looked at the man that Sophie had been “chatting up” with her eyes. Keeping her smile on her face, she caught the stranger's eyes, again, before lifting her cup and taking a sip. His eyes fixed on her; the man didn't notice the daggers being shot in his direction by Nate.
Sophie calmly placed her cup on the table and stared at Nate, waiting for him to upright himself and undoubtedly begin interrogating her. If she were a different woman, this moment, the unknowing and the anticipation of potential argument, would feel her with dread. Instead she felt flush with excitement. Matching wits with Nate was a thrill that she wouldn't give up for all the healthy relationships in the world. Did that mean there was something wrong with her? Probably.
Nate sat up, his darkened eyes boring in to hers with either curiosity or displeasure. Knowing Nate, it was both. After a few minutes, Nate reached out to take a sip of his coffee. Unable to resist waving a red flag in front of the bull, Sophie coyly lifted her own mug and smiled at him. Reflexively, Nate's mouth curved up in to a warm smile as he prepared to drink from the cup.
Catching himself mid-motion, Nate jerked his cup down on to the table. “Dammit, Sophie.”
“What?” Sophie could see the anger coursing through Nate's body. Briefly, she considered the sanity of teasing him, but what's done was done and she might as well see this through.
“It's like breathing to you, isn't it? Every man is a mark. There's not an honest bone in your body.”
Whoa. That was more anger than she was expecting.
“It was harmless, Nate, just a little flirting to make a lonely man feel better.” Sophie was really confused. She hadn't expected Nate to be angry because she was entertaining herself while he did his crossword puzzle.
“It's not the flirting.” Nate ran a hand through his hair. She could see the thoughts churning through his mind, the battle with himself as he chose the words he wanted to say. There was something she wasn't getting about the situation, but she had a feeling that Nate was going to make sure she knew what was on his mind soon enough.
The pause stretched, filling the space between them with unwanted tension. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw the older man standing to leave. He smiled in her direction and she smiled back, lifting her hand just a bit to offer a weak wave goodbye. She could see that his shoulders seemed lighter than when he'd sat down and, no matter Nate's reaction, she was proud of herself for making someone's day better. Since being with the Leverage team, Sophie had found ways of using her skills as a grifter in a positive way and she liked it. She liked that she could ease the burden of strangers with so little effort. It was something she could be proud of, even though the pain she really wanted to lift was Nate's, and his suffering was like a boulder between his shoulders that he was unwilling to let go.
She could feel Nate's eyes on her, watching her exchange with the man who was now walking away, well on his way to forgetting her. She could see the seriousness on Nate’s face, the anger gone, but the myriad of questions he was holding back, rolling across the surface like a storm. Recognizing that this had more weight than a passing flirtation in a public cafe in Paris, Sophie fixed her attention entirely on the man in front of her.
Dark eyes met stormy blue ones and Sophie could have sworn the busy streets disappeared. There was just her and just Nate and nothing could have diverted her gaze in that moment. It was always like this. They’d had this connection for nearly a decade, but she still felt they barely knew each other.
“That's what I don't understand.” Nate's voice was low, nearly a whisper, as though the words fought their way out of his lungs, despite the body's best effort to keep him from speaking.
“What? What don't you understand?” Sophie kept her voice soft, gentle, desperate to keep from scaring Nate's emotions back in to hiding.
“That I can look at you and you become the only woman in the world. But, I have to wonder how much of that have you trained me to believe?' Sophie reached out to cup his cheek, her eyes never leaving his. As her warm palm touched his freshly shaved skin, Nate closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean in to the contact. “I keep replaying the past, trying to remember if you did the drink thing with me, and for how long. I want to know when you stopped, when this became real.” There was a pause. “If this can ever be real.”
“Oh, Nate.” Sophie's voice was sad and defeated to her own ears. She rarely regretted the woman she'd become, the life she'd led, but in this moment she'd give up her entire illegal cache to take away the doubt in Nate's heart.
That was the crux of this whole messed up situation, wasn't it? Sophie couldn't say if the failing was in her, for being a criminal, or in Nate for refusing to love everything she was, but as long as he couldn't trust her and as long as she couldn't be honest, this would fail. They sat in silence, his face cupped in her hands, her eyes wet with unshed tears, neither one of them able to find the words to heal the gap that was seeping between them.
Bloody Nate Ford. And bloody Sophie Devereaux, for that matter. They were always finding a way to muck things up.
Sophie leaned back in her chair, reluctantly releasing Nate's face from her hand. Taking a deep, calming breath, she tried to find the power to be honest. Just do it. This is always going to be a mess if you don't tell him the truth.
“Yes, in the beginning, I did 'the drink thing' on you.” Nate opened his eyes, leaning back in to his own chair; his stormy eyes calmer now, more like cloudy pools that Sophie could clearly see the pain reflected in. Swallowing her instinct to smooth the situation over with glib lines and innuendo, she pressed on. “It's instinctual.” She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “In the spirit of honesty, now is a good time to mention I'm rather skilled at Neural-Linguistic Programming.”
Nate shot her a sharp look and she held up a hand to stop him. “I've never used it on you.” A smirk played on her lips. “Now, Eliot is an entirely different matter.”
Unable to hold back, Nate's face lit up with an admiring grin. Sophie felt a bit like a star pupil basking in the pride of a respected professor. She was hungry to continue to surprise him, to give him reasons to be impressed by her.
Realizing the anger and hurt was easing out of Nate; she shifted her body into a more open position, altering the dynamic of the conversation from a battle to an exchange. Maybe, just maybe, if she played her cards right, they could get back to the playful banter they'd started with in the car.
Flashing Nate a big smile before tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder, Sophie continued. “Come on, be honest, if I hadn't been running some kind of game on you, would you have been half as interested?”
Nate leaned forward, propping himself up on one elbow, leaving the other hand free to play with the rim of his coffee mug. Sophie let herself stare a moment too long at the movements of the lean fingers, nearly forgetting that she was waiting for a response. She moved her eyes to his face, noticing that he was watching her watch him. Sophie arched one eyebrow and caught his gaze.
Smiling a little smugly, Nate stopped, placing his hand on the table, teasingly close to Sophie's own hand. “I suppose not. If there hadn't been a mouse to chase, this cat would have been really bored.”
“Wait, you think you're the cat in our little scenario?” Sophie raised both eyebrows in shock.
“Aren't I?' Arrogance and confidence pulsed out of Nate's body, so sure that he had her.
Shifting her legs under the table, Sophie deliberately rubbed her foot along his calf as she re-crossed her legs. She smiled in satisfaction as Nate's body tensed in reaction. “Are you absolutely certain you're the cat?”
Sophie dropped her eyes to his mouth, once again peeking her tongue out to wet her lips, but this time the intent was different. She ran the pinkness across her full mouth, meaning to seduce and tease. While Nate's attention was focused on what her mouth was doing, she reached out and ran her fingers over the back of his hand, carefully stimulating each finger before slowly moving it up his wrist and on to his arm.
This time tension between them was nearly frenetic. Sophie could feel her head being pulled closer and closer to Nate’s, her eyes never wavering from his.
They were inches apart, their heads tilting of their own accord, the street noise completely blocked from Sophie’s mind. The only noise in her head was the beating of her heart. This was it. She was seconds away from finally kissing Nate.
“The Louvre is closed and I’m bored.” Parker’s annoyed voice in Sophie’s ear scared the dark-haired woman so badly she nearly screeched. Nate jerked back from Sophie as though scorched. Sophie tried not to have hurt feelings.
“Parker!” Nate’s voice was hoarse and about a thousand times more annoyed than Parker’s had been. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I told you, the Louvre is closed and I’m bored.” The blond repeated her sentence slowly, adding precision and detail to each syllable, the way one would do for a child who wasn’t listening.
“How did you even find us?” Sophie pulled her eyes from Nate to Parker, doing her best to be present in the current moment, even though her mind kept trying to pull her back to a few blissful seconds ago when she was on the precipice of kissing Nate Ford for the first time.
“Nate said something about wanting to visit a café you’d been to a few years ago. Told me the name and everything. He was really looking forward to it.” Parker attempted to kick her feet on to the table, but Sophie swatted them down before she was able to get comfortable.
“I never told you that.” Nate was glaring at the thief, who was flagging a waiter down with one wildly flailing arm.
Huffing a bit, Parker said, “Fine. You never told me that. I heard it when I was checking out the ventilation system in the hotel last night.”
“You did what?!” Nate was bordering on furious.
“I was bored.” Shrugging a little, Parker went on. “We saved a bunch of kids yesterday. I don’t want my new superpowers to get rusty.”
“You don’t have super powers, Parker.” Sophie was trying to keep Parker from nabbing the half-eaten croissant on her plate, but it was proving impossible.
Nate mumbled, “Yes she does.”
Sophie looked at Nate askance.
Parker’s fact lit up. “See?! I told you I have super powers!”
“You don’t, Parker.” Sophie glared at Nate. “Telling Parker she has super powers is a bad idea, Nate. You better explain yourself.”
“Her super power is really, really bad timing.” Satisfied, Nate grinned at Sophie.
Sophie glanced over his shoulder and smiled grimly. “She’s not the only one.”
Walking towards them were an already bickering Eliot and Hardison. The shorter man kept trying to get ahead of Hardison, but the long legs of the hacker made quick time of whatever distance Eliot had managed to cover. The hitter glowered at Hardison before flipping his hair out of his face. Hardison just grinned, waving enthusiastically at the table where Nate, Sophie and Parker sat.
Sighing heavily, Sophie signaled the waitress for a couple more chairs. Exchanging a brief look with Nate, Sophie knew that whatever potential forward motion they might have gained today was gone. It was unfortunate, but Sophie was sure that it would be months, maybe even longer, before she'd have the opportunity to Nate alone and vulnerable, again. She glanced once more in Nate's direction before she pushed the disappointment aside. Hopefully she could be patient enough to wait until that time came.
Genre: general - flirty
Word Count: 4248
Rating: G
Pairings: Pre- Nate/Sophie
Warnings: None
Summary: Missing scene from the end of "The Stork Job"
This is written for multicolor . I got a great prompt and I loved writing this. :) I hope it makes your Christmas dreams come true.
Sophie stood off to the side, near the new car they'd picked up so that they could leave the bus with the kids at the World Health Organization. Parker was saying her goodbyes, hugging each child as though she was trying to imbibe each one of their bodies with all the love and hope the strange thief had to offer. Sophie shifted her long legs, trying to take the pressure off her feet, briefly regretting her choice in footwear. High-heeled boots were adorable, but far from practical. Sophie shook the thought off. Nothing was more important than wearing the perfect shoes to solidify an outfit, or a character. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
Dark eyes drifted lazily back to the long form of Nate Ford as he finished the niceties involved with smoothing over the hand off of the overly sugared children. It was nice to be able to lean back and watch him simply own a situation. There was something inherently sexy about Nate when he was in full take-charge mode. He kept making eye contact with the flustered young worker, her high color and broken speech pattern indicating that she was just as flustered by his electric blue eyes as Sophie herself when pinned by them. She watched as his large hand reached out and reassuringly patted the younger woman on the shoulder in a clearly paternal manner. Sophie laughed as her cute face fell, having read the signal correctly and feeling rejected. Disappointment marred her features, but the woman recovered quickly, smiling perkily and sticking her hand out for Nate to shake. Oblivious to the young lady's interest, Nate shook her hand, turned, and walked away. She faded from his thoughts before he'd even taken two steps toward the car and the rest of his team.
Sophie inhaled sharply as she caught Nate's eyes locked on her face. He looked determined and ready for a fight. Knowing immediately what he was bracing for, Sophie opened her mouth just as he was within earshot. “You're not getting out of this, Nate. You owe me.” Nate's determined features shifted, just enough that a blind man could have read his displeasure. Smiling brightly, Sophie continued undaunted. “We're going to Paris and you're going to love it.”
Sighing heavily Nate opened the driver's side of the nondescript black car and slid inside. As Sophie climbed in next to him, she could have sworn she saw a small smile playing at the corner of Nate's mouth. Grinning, Sophie buckled the seat belt, caught Nate's eye and winked playfully. This was going to be an amazing trip.
=//=
Once the team landed in Paris, they disbanded. It seemed that everyone was feeling a little 'peopled' out and they'd made a group decision to have some alone time. Fortunately, no one mentioned to Nate that they were going to take time off, and he was left standing in the hotel lobby waiting for Sophie early the next morning.
The elevator doors opened and Sophie was able to spot Nate immediately. He was sitting in one of the high back chairs meant more for privacy rather than comfort, sipping espresso and reading a local paper. Sophie hummed happily as she took in his crisp suit and polished shoes. He'd dressed up for her.
Knowing that the approach was vital, Sophie took her time getting to Nate, letting her body sway and bounce with a careless grace. He was bound to notice her and there was no hurry. Keeping her features neutral, she ignored the interest of several men in the lobby as she walked by. It never failed to amuse her how easily she was able to draw the attention of men. They were so easy. Sure, when she was younger, she worried that her beauty would fade and the attention would wane, but it seemed that confidence was universally sexy and she had that in spades. She figured that she'd be well into her sixties before she stopped catching the eye of men. If she played her cards right, it would take longer than that.
Sophie was only a few feet away when Nate glanced up, seeming to notice her for the first time. The ghost of a smile on his lips belied the immediacy of his attention, though. Nate Ford was a highly observant man and Sophie was fairly certain that he'd been watching her for a while. More to the point, he'd been watching the heads turn as she'd cut her path to him. And he'd liked it.
Whatever their relationship was at this point in their flirtation, Sophie knew that somewhere deep inside, Nate loved the fact that no matter how many heads she turned, she only had eyes for him. Slightly disgusted at such a male mentality, Sophie rolled her dark eyes. Nate chuckled, as though he could read her mind, and Sophie had to forcibly control herself from rolling them again.
Folding his paper and placing it on the table next to him, Nate stood. For a moment it looked like he might lean in and kiss her cheek, in the European way, but he stopped himself at the last moment, looking around the lobby. “Where's everyone else?”
Keeping the disappointment off her face, Sophie smiled before answering. “You didn't hear? We're on our own. Elliot's had enough of us, Hardison's tormenting something -”
Nate interrupted. “Torrent.”
“What?” Sophie blinked. Her train of thought was completely gone. Nate slipped one arm through hers and was leading her out of the hotel and in to the city.
“He's 'torrenting.” Nate said it conversationally, like Sophie should understand what he meant. She continued to stare blankly at him. “He's downloading something to watch later.”
“Oh, so, Hardison's doing something geeky and I'm fairly certain that Parker is casing a museum.” Nate held open the hotel door and signaled the doorman to hail a car for them. Sophie smiled. This felt right. “That just leaves you, me and the entire city of Paris.”
A dark car pulled to a stop in front of them. The looming but quiet doorman opened the door and Sophie poured herself into the seats, quickly making room for Nate to climb in next to her. Sophie admired the way he folded his long frame into the back seat. It was always such a marvel to her that this graceful, almost elegant, man lived within the hard, cold version of Nate that was left behind after Sam's death. She was relieved, really, because she was afraid he'd been killed, too.
In her memories, this soft-spoken, earnest man was the Nate she longed for at night. He'd been all fire and righteousness in the beginning, and the only thing he'd been drunk on was his own intelligence and the chase. She hoped that a day in Paris would return some of that to him. She missed the spark, the heat, in his eyes. It was there, but it was tainted with revenge and anger, and that broke her heart. Sophie knew that she'd never be able to give him his innocence or purity back, but maybe, over time, bits of him would heal in positive ways.
Sophie could feel Nate's eyes on her, bringing her back out of her thoughts.
“All right, Soph, you've got me all to yourself. Where do you want to go?” Nate's cerulean eyes were locked on her lips and her mouth suddenly felt very dry.
Unconsciously, she darted her tongue out and wet her lips. Sophie's eyes lowered to his mouth. She was vaguely aware that he'd asked her a question and the silence was filling up the space between them, but she couldn't think.
Amusement lacing every word, Nate said, “You seem hungry. We'll eat, first.”
Breaking contact with his face, Sophie looked at his ear, out the window, at the driver, then back to his face. She could feel her cheeks were flushed and she wanted to scream. Nate, in comparison, looked cool and unaffected. Damn that man. She was seconds from a full-on pout when she noticed his left hand clenched so tight his knuckles where white, as though he had to physically keep himself from touching her.
Smiling smugly, Sophie met his gaze once more before saying softly, “I'm not the only one who's hungry, Mr. Ford.”
Nate opened his mouth, and then closed it. He shifted his body and leaned forward to speak quietly with the driver. The car made a quick left and headed off.
=//=
The rest of the car ride was made in relative silence. Nate stared out one window and she stared out the other. Despite the seat being large and roomy, she felt almost unbearably close to him. If she crossed her legs in just the right way, she would brush up against his leg. The urge to touch him was so strong, but she knew better. They weren't in that place. Her body ached from holding it still, demanding what her heart was incapable of doing - resisting the appeal of Nate Ford.
It was almost painful, really, being this close to him, knowing that the longer they put off the inevitable conclusion of a sexual relationship, the worse the tension was going to be as they went on. While Sophie was completely willing to acknowledge what proximity and banter did to her, Nate seemed stubbornly unwilling to admit to any of it. He was like a child hiding under a blanket who was afraid of the dark. Sure, it was dark under the blanket, but he had control of the monsters inside his self-made tent. It was endearing and frustrating, much like the man sitting next to her.
The car began to slow, stopping in front of a typical street cafe. Nate leaned forward and paid the driver before opening the door of the car. Standing on the sidewalk, Nate smiled as he offered a large hand to Sophie. Taking it gratefully, she slowly got out of the car. Feeling impish and frustrated, she made sure that she flashed a substantial bit of leg before she stood up. Sophie smothered her look of triumph as she noticed Nate's blue eyes freeze on her exposed limbs and darken with desire. She was under the impression she shouldn't be the only suffering during their little outing today.
Apparently she wasn't as successful as she'd hoped at keeping the look from her face because when Nate met her eyes, he gave her a shrewd look before murmuring a slightly warning, “Sophie” in her ear. Sophie put her most innocent look on her face and blinked her dark eyes at Nate, just once. Nate barked in laughter, quick and delighted, shaking his head as he led her to one of the tables facing the street.
=//=
It was some time later as they were sipping coffee and watching the pedestrians walking up and down the street, before either of them spoke. The long silences, the comfortable ones, not the ones fraught with accusation and anger, were her favorite things about spending time with Nate. Sophie never had to really be anyone. Sure, sometimes that was scary and confusing, and she could see it being a serious problem in the future, but right now, the freedom to just be was perfection.
Nate had procured another paper and was lazily doing a crossword puzzle as Sophie kept her eyes on the people She contented herself with making up stories about them. Sometimes she tried to accurately guess what they were doing, who they were with, sussing out the relationships, but other times she cast them in wild stories. It appealed to the actor inside of her to create elaborate personalities for the clearly mundane people walking the streets. It was an excellent exercise for her grifter brain as well.
Watching people without sizing them up as marks was hard, and she soon found herself in a nonverbal conversation with a gentleman seated across from them, just behind Nate's shoulder. She was half-way through the dance, all eye contact and smiles, when she saw her way in. He was smiling at her. Wanting to anchor that, keep his interest, she saluted him with her cup before taking a long sip. He followed her lead and they both took a drink. The obviously wealthy man was now completely hooked, a smitten smile on his face.
Across from her, Nate shifted, seemingly needing to stretch, but Sophie knew better. She watched in frozen terror as he locked eyes with her before “accidentally” knocking his pencil to the ground. Nudging the pencil with the tip of his shoe as he leaned down, effectively rolling it behind him, Nate casually looked at the man that Sophie had been “chatting up” with her eyes. Keeping her smile on her face, she caught the stranger's eyes, again, before lifting her cup and taking a sip. His eyes fixed on her; the man didn't notice the daggers being shot in his direction by Nate.
Sophie calmly placed her cup on the table and stared at Nate, waiting for him to upright himself and undoubtedly begin interrogating her. If she were a different woman, this moment, the unknowing and the anticipation of potential argument, would feel her with dread. Instead she felt flush with excitement. Matching wits with Nate was a thrill that she wouldn't give up for all the healthy relationships in the world. Did that mean there was something wrong with her? Probably.
Nate sat up, his darkened eyes boring in to hers with either curiosity or displeasure. Knowing Nate, it was both. After a few minutes, Nate reached out to take a sip of his coffee. Unable to resist waving a red flag in front of the bull, Sophie coyly lifted her own mug and smiled at him. Reflexively, Nate's mouth curved up in to a warm smile as he prepared to drink from the cup.
Catching himself mid-motion, Nate jerked his cup down on to the table. “Dammit, Sophie.”
“What?” Sophie could see the anger coursing through Nate's body. Briefly, she considered the sanity of teasing him, but what's done was done and she might as well see this through.
“It's like breathing to you, isn't it? Every man is a mark. There's not an honest bone in your body.”
Whoa. That was more anger than she was expecting.
“It was harmless, Nate, just a little flirting to make a lonely man feel better.” Sophie was really confused. She hadn't expected Nate to be angry because she was entertaining herself while he did his crossword puzzle.
“It's not the flirting.” Nate ran a hand through his hair. She could see the thoughts churning through his mind, the battle with himself as he chose the words he wanted to say. There was something she wasn't getting about the situation, but she had a feeling that Nate was going to make sure she knew what was on his mind soon enough.
The pause stretched, filling the space between them with unwanted tension. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw the older man standing to leave. He smiled in her direction and she smiled back, lifting her hand just a bit to offer a weak wave goodbye. She could see that his shoulders seemed lighter than when he'd sat down and, no matter Nate's reaction, she was proud of herself for making someone's day better. Since being with the Leverage team, Sophie had found ways of using her skills as a grifter in a positive way and she liked it. She liked that she could ease the burden of strangers with so little effort. It was something she could be proud of, even though the pain she really wanted to lift was Nate's, and his suffering was like a boulder between his shoulders that he was unwilling to let go.
She could feel Nate's eyes on her, watching her exchange with the man who was now walking away, well on his way to forgetting her. She could see the seriousness on Nate’s face, the anger gone, but the myriad of questions he was holding back, rolling across the surface like a storm. Recognizing that this had more weight than a passing flirtation in a public cafe in Paris, Sophie fixed her attention entirely on the man in front of her.
Dark eyes met stormy blue ones and Sophie could have sworn the busy streets disappeared. There was just her and just Nate and nothing could have diverted her gaze in that moment. It was always like this. They’d had this connection for nearly a decade, but she still felt they barely knew each other.
“That's what I don't understand.” Nate's voice was low, nearly a whisper, as though the words fought their way out of his lungs, despite the body's best effort to keep him from speaking.
“What? What don't you understand?” Sophie kept her voice soft, gentle, desperate to keep from scaring Nate's emotions back in to hiding.
“That I can look at you and you become the only woman in the world. But, I have to wonder how much of that have you trained me to believe?' Sophie reached out to cup his cheek, her eyes never leaving his. As her warm palm touched his freshly shaved skin, Nate closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean in to the contact. “I keep replaying the past, trying to remember if you did the drink thing with me, and for how long. I want to know when you stopped, when this became real.” There was a pause. “If this can ever be real.”
“Oh, Nate.” Sophie's voice was sad and defeated to her own ears. She rarely regretted the woman she'd become, the life she'd led, but in this moment she'd give up her entire illegal cache to take away the doubt in Nate's heart.
That was the crux of this whole messed up situation, wasn't it? Sophie couldn't say if the failing was in her, for being a criminal, or in Nate for refusing to love everything she was, but as long as he couldn't trust her and as long as she couldn't be honest, this would fail. They sat in silence, his face cupped in her hands, her eyes wet with unshed tears, neither one of them able to find the words to heal the gap that was seeping between them.
Bloody Nate Ford. And bloody Sophie Devereaux, for that matter. They were always finding a way to muck things up.
Sophie leaned back in her chair, reluctantly releasing Nate's face from her hand. Taking a deep, calming breath, she tried to find the power to be honest. Just do it. This is always going to be a mess if you don't tell him the truth.
“Yes, in the beginning, I did 'the drink thing' on you.” Nate opened his eyes, leaning back in to his own chair; his stormy eyes calmer now, more like cloudy pools that Sophie could clearly see the pain reflected in. Swallowing her instinct to smooth the situation over with glib lines and innuendo, she pressed on. “It's instinctual.” She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “In the spirit of honesty, now is a good time to mention I'm rather skilled at Neural-Linguistic Programming.”
Nate shot her a sharp look and she held up a hand to stop him. “I've never used it on you.” A smirk played on her lips. “Now, Eliot is an entirely different matter.”
Unable to hold back, Nate's face lit up with an admiring grin. Sophie felt a bit like a star pupil basking in the pride of a respected professor. She was hungry to continue to surprise him, to give him reasons to be impressed by her.
Realizing the anger and hurt was easing out of Nate; she shifted her body into a more open position, altering the dynamic of the conversation from a battle to an exchange. Maybe, just maybe, if she played her cards right, they could get back to the playful banter they'd started with in the car.
Flashing Nate a big smile before tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder, Sophie continued. “Come on, be honest, if I hadn't been running some kind of game on you, would you have been half as interested?”
Nate leaned forward, propping himself up on one elbow, leaving the other hand free to play with the rim of his coffee mug. Sophie let herself stare a moment too long at the movements of the lean fingers, nearly forgetting that she was waiting for a response. She moved her eyes to his face, noticing that he was watching her watch him. Sophie arched one eyebrow and caught his gaze.
Smiling a little smugly, Nate stopped, placing his hand on the table, teasingly close to Sophie's own hand. “I suppose not. If there hadn't been a mouse to chase, this cat would have been really bored.”
“Wait, you think you're the cat in our little scenario?” Sophie raised both eyebrows in shock.
“Aren't I?' Arrogance and confidence pulsed out of Nate's body, so sure that he had her.
Shifting her legs under the table, Sophie deliberately rubbed her foot along his calf as she re-crossed her legs. She smiled in satisfaction as Nate's body tensed in reaction. “Are you absolutely certain you're the cat?”
Sophie dropped her eyes to his mouth, once again peeking her tongue out to wet her lips, but this time the intent was different. She ran the pinkness across her full mouth, meaning to seduce and tease. While Nate's attention was focused on what her mouth was doing, she reached out and ran her fingers over the back of his hand, carefully stimulating each finger before slowly moving it up his wrist and on to his arm.
This time tension between them was nearly frenetic. Sophie could feel her head being pulled closer and closer to Nate’s, her eyes never wavering from his.
They were inches apart, their heads tilting of their own accord, the street noise completely blocked from Sophie’s mind. The only noise in her head was the beating of her heart. This was it. She was seconds away from finally kissing Nate.
“The Louvre is closed and I’m bored.” Parker’s annoyed voice in Sophie’s ear scared the dark-haired woman so badly she nearly screeched. Nate jerked back from Sophie as though scorched. Sophie tried not to have hurt feelings.
“Parker!” Nate’s voice was hoarse and about a thousand times more annoyed than Parker’s had been. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I told you, the Louvre is closed and I’m bored.” The blond repeated her sentence slowly, adding precision and detail to each syllable, the way one would do for a child who wasn’t listening.
“How did you even find us?” Sophie pulled her eyes from Nate to Parker, doing her best to be present in the current moment, even though her mind kept trying to pull her back to a few blissful seconds ago when she was on the precipice of kissing Nate Ford for the first time.
“Nate said something about wanting to visit a café you’d been to a few years ago. Told me the name and everything. He was really looking forward to it.” Parker attempted to kick her feet on to the table, but Sophie swatted them down before she was able to get comfortable.
“I never told you that.” Nate was glaring at the thief, who was flagging a waiter down with one wildly flailing arm.
Huffing a bit, Parker said, “Fine. You never told me that. I heard it when I was checking out the ventilation system in the hotel last night.”
“You did what?!” Nate was bordering on furious.
“I was bored.” Shrugging a little, Parker went on. “We saved a bunch of kids yesterday. I don’t want my new superpowers to get rusty.”
“You don’t have super powers, Parker.” Sophie was trying to keep Parker from nabbing the half-eaten croissant on her plate, but it was proving impossible.
Nate mumbled, “Yes she does.”
Sophie looked at Nate askance.
Parker’s fact lit up. “See?! I told you I have super powers!”
“You don’t, Parker.” Sophie glared at Nate. “Telling Parker she has super powers is a bad idea, Nate. You better explain yourself.”
“Her super power is really, really bad timing.” Satisfied, Nate grinned at Sophie.
Sophie glanced over his shoulder and smiled grimly. “She’s not the only one.”
Walking towards them were an already bickering Eliot and Hardison. The shorter man kept trying to get ahead of Hardison, but the long legs of the hacker made quick time of whatever distance Eliot had managed to cover. The hitter glowered at Hardison before flipping his hair out of his face. Hardison just grinned, waving enthusiastically at the table where Nate, Sophie and Parker sat.
Sighing heavily, Sophie signaled the waitress for a couple more chairs. Exchanging a brief look with Nate, Sophie knew that whatever potential forward motion they might have gained today was gone. It was unfortunate, but Sophie was sure that it would be months, maybe even longer, before she'd have the opportunity to Nate alone and vulnerable, again. She glanced once more in Nate's direction before she pushed the disappointment aside. Hopefully she could be patient enough to wait until that time came.