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Bring on the Wonder	By : Azuriel Category: G through L > Leverage Views: 487 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to the Leverage series. I own nothing in that universe. Therefore I cannot and am not making any money off of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
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n order to go after Vector, the hockey player tied to Moreau, but still keep things looking like business as usual, they had to find a victim to help. That turned out to be pretty easy. Vector's crimes were financial, and he'd taken dozens for a ride. Nate found a man who not only lost his life savings, but had been put in the hospital by Vector when he confronted the man. Nate talked to the guy down in the pub alone while everyone else waited.

Will was the last to arrive, taking a seat in one of the arm chairs. “What are you doing here?” Elliot asked in an annoyed tone.

“What do you mean what am I doing here? Aren't I a part of this team? Did I miss something?”

“What I think Elliot is trying to get at,” Sophie joined the conversation, “is that only a week ago you were being operated on. You should be resting, not here. It's not that we don't want your help, but your health is more important.”

“It's been eight days,” Will argued. “I could probably cut the stitches out myself because I'm healed. I'm up and walking around. I feel fine.”

“The last time you said you were fine you weren't,” Elliot pointed out.

“Fair enough. So give me a non physical job. I'm bored.”

“Alright,” Sophie sighed as she gave in. “Stay close, but don't do anything unless we need you, okay?”

“I guess that's better than nothing.”

Nate walked in then and all eyes turned toward him. “Okay. Let's run it.” Then he noticed everyone was staring at him. “What?”

“We know you just came back from seeing your little Italian friend,” Sophie answered.

“That we don't get to see,” Hardison added.

“Why do you insist on keeping us all in the dark about her?” Sophie asked.

Nate motioned to Will. “Instead of giving me the third degree why don't you address the fact that he's out of bed when he shouldn't be.”

“Because it's already been addressed,” Will shot back. “And instead of being exiled I'm keeping the bench warm.”

“Well... We're taking down Damien Moreau. This is a guy who moves money for arms dealers, drug kingpins, terrorists. Pretty worthy goal, yes? We all agreed. Now, the fact that we don't have a choice in the matter I can barely stomach, so if we could just focus on our client and the guy that took his life savings, it'd be a good start. Now, run it.”

Hardison pulled everything up. “Meet Mark Vector. His pro highlights; six assists, two goals, three thousand minutes in the penalty box.”

“Doesn't sound like a very good player,” Will commented.

“Scoring goals wasn't his job on the team,” Elliot explained. “I've got some tape on this guy. He can fight.”

Sophie raised an eyebrow at Elliot. “You watch hockey fights alone at night in your room?”

“Used to,” Elliot answered as he glanced over at Will.

Will rolled his eyes. “You keep trying to talk about sports to me, and since it's not football; sorry, soccer or volleyball, I don't care. Damn Americans making no damn sense... Besides, I don't hear any complaints about our new hobby.”

“Anyway,” Hardison cleared his throat to get their attention back. “Now, after his pro days, he turned his attention to the market, where he made a fortune picking stocks.”

“That's the myth. What's the truth?” Nate asked.

“The truth is he's a huckster. He built an investment firm preying on his former hockey fans, like our client. Then he started laundering money for underworld figures he met during his career.”

“Lucky for him, a Boston grand jury is about to indict one of his mob clients for money laundering, which makes Vector a very important witness.”

“So what does Vector have on Moreau?” Sophie asked.

Nate shrugged. “I don't know. So our job is to find that out before he testifies and gets immunity, which is happening tomorrow.”

Hardison brought a flight schedule up on the screen. “Well, look. I got Vector coming in at 5:00 on Vista Atlantic, Flight 411. He's gonna be met by an FBI handler.”

“Part one of the plan; meet him first,” Nate started putting things together.

“So if Vector has an immunity agreement with the government, why on earth would he speak to us?” Sophie asked the very important question.

“Well, he'd have to think that he's in such big trouble for something that his immunity agreement was worthless and he'd have to make a new deal.”

“And have to give up Moreau to get it. That's an awful lot of trouble we've got to come up with.”

“Well, what are his weaknesses, besides busting up the power play?” Elliot asked.

Hardison pulled up two more articles. “He's got two big ones. He's got a violent temper, and he likes to party. Talking bar fights, DUI's, you name it.”

“There's always the classic dead hooker,” Will suggested. “But I have no idea how to pull that off without an actual dead hooker.”

“You fake it,” Nate responded.

Will looked confused. “You can do that?”

“It takes a little work, but yes. It's not a bad idea. So, when his partying gets him into hot water, who does he call?”

“He calls Daniel Firestone. He's Boston's finest fixer lawyer,” Hardison answered.

Nate turned to Sophie. “Part two of the plan. Sophie, steal his lawyer. Alright, let's throw Vector a party.”

Nate took Parker to the airport to meet Vector. As reluctant as Parker was to put herself in that situation, Sophie had to visit the lawyer and get what they needed from him. The idea was for Parker to bump into him and start flirting. The FBI agent, whom Parker had met before, was distracted with an altered flight schedule and a phone call from Nate pretending to be Vector at another gate.

Parker had no trouble getting Vector to take her to the pub. Sophie had to guide her a little from the back room, but she was doing pretty well at getting the man drunk and interested.

While Parker was doing her thing Nate was getting his apartment ready. Will was helping him remove personal items and giving the place a slight feminine touch. “How strong is this stuff?” Nate asked as he pulled a little plastic dropper out of his jacket.

“Two or three drops should do the trick,” Will answered as he hid a few photos. “But since he's a big guy, make it three. It should be fine.”

“Right,” Nate nodded as he carefully coated a drinking glass with the clear liquid so it wouldn't be easily noticed.

“Everything set up there?” they heard Sophie ask.

“Yeah,” Nate responded. “Just give me a minute to clear out.” He turned to Will. “Remember, you hide in the closet just in case something goes wrong and Parker needs you.”

“Yes, because even in my weakened state I should be able to handle a drunk old guy,” Will's tone was slightly sarcastic as he took his place in the closet.

Once Nate was out of the apartment Parker invited Vector up. She kept flirting while pouring them both yet another drink. Vector was given the spiked glass, and he was quickly out cold. “You think three drops was too much?” Parker asked out loud as she got him into the bed.

Will came out of the closet and grabbed a case of makeup Nate had left. “He's still breathing, so it's fine. Now, let's make you look dead.”

When Vector woke up he found Parker next to him, pale and lifeless. When he checked her pulse he didn't find one because they'd put a layer of false skin on her wrists. As predicted, Vector panicked and called his lawyer.

Hardison had already rigged things so that the call went to his computer, and he was able to use the recordings that Sophie had gotten to direct Vector to call another lawyer, which was going to be Nate.

“Nate, the guy in the bed with the dead hooker con is up and running,” Elliot said as soon as the call was finished.

“Uh, let's go over this one more time. Now, getting Vector to think he's in trouble is just the beginning. I need to get him to trust me as his lawyer, which means I need to get him to confess,” Nate summed it up.

“Then I go in as the prosecutor and offer him a new immunity deal in exchange for what he knows about Moreau,” Sophie added.

“Now, in order for Sophie to be able to do that, she is gonna need the original immunity agreement with Vector's signature on it. She's gonna need to hold it in her hands, be able to quote from it, rub his nose in it. That's your job, to retrieve that.”

“We're on our way to the courthouse,” Elliot responded.

“While I sit here like a bump on a log,” Will sighed.

Sophie put a hand on his. “It's for your own good, you know. It won't kill you to sit this one out.” She turned back to Nate. “Well, he's in a panic waiting for his lawyer. Shouldn't you be getting up there?”

Nate shook his head. “Nah, a little time will soften him up. I learned that from you.”

A small smile appeared on Sophie's lips. “This reminds me of old times. You know, you on one side, me on the other. Are you worried?”

“About you? Never.”

Will made a dramatic gagging noise which caused Sophie to roll her eyes and chuckle. “Go get him,” she motioned to Nate. “And that's enough from you,” she chided Will.

Nate went up to the apartment to talk to Vector. Instead of being the reassuring lawyer he pointed out how bad everything looked. Vector continued to swear his innocence, but there really was no proof of that.

Sophie was still waiting for the plea agreement when she spotted a man in a suit outside. “We have company. An old friend,” she gave Nate a head's up.

Nate moved over to the window so he could look for himself. “Yeah, he must have tracked the cab using traffic cameras.”

“What are we gonna do, Nate? We're not ready to close Vector yet.”

“Well, we could use McSweeten to our advantage. Uh, we've gotta have someone on his hip. Someone he trusts.”

“You've gotta be kidding me!” Parker groaned.

“Your part is over. All we gotta do is keep him out of the bedroom.”

“I'm lost now,” Will commented.

“McSweeten is an FBI agent we dealt with before you were with us,” Sophie explained quickly. “Well, Hardison and Parker dealt with him. We made him think they were also FBI agents.”

“Oh. So this should be interesting.”

“Guys, where are you?” Sophie spoke to Elliot and Hardison. “I need to get my hands on that immunity agreement now.”

“We are on our way,” Hardison responded.

The agent walked into the pub and showed Vector's picture to the bartender. “Special Agent McSweeten, FBI. I was wondering, have you seen this man?”

“Uh, No. He doesn't look familiar to me,” the bartender shook his head.

Will got up before Sophie could stop him and walked over to the agent. “Does the department not trust me?” he tone was a bit accusatory.

“Excuse me?” Agent McSweeten was confused. “I'm the only one assigned to the Vector case. At least I thought I was.”

“Oh, that's not my case,” Will faked being embarrassed. “Agent Evans,” he quietly introduced himself. “You wouldn't believe some of the things that have been going on here.” He kept his tone soft so that no one would overhear.

Parker walked in the front door and interrupted them, though her lips still looked blue. “Special Agent Hagen,” McSweeten remembered her.

“Hi,” Parker gave him a warm smile.

“This bar is just crawling with agents,” McSweeten motioned to Will.

“Yeah, he's my new partner,” Parker answered quickly. “At least for this assignment. We had to go really deep undercover. Why don't we go talk outside? Agent Evans, stay here and keep an eye on, you know...”

“Of course,” Will nodded with a very soft sigh as he returned to the table. “What?” he shrugged when he saw the way Sophie was looking at him. “Talking to a man to buy Parker a little time isn't going to hurt me.”

Nate used the presence of the agent to put a little pressure on Vector by pointing out that McSweeten was there. Of course Nate's advice was to stay put and wait for the agent to leave. Then he went right back to asking Vector what happened. The proposed scenario was that maybe the hot blonde got a bit rough and Vector lost his temper and killed her. Vector even seemed to believe that's what happened.

Nate made the call to Sophie while Parker tried to keep McSweeten busy. She told him she knew all about Vector and offered to help him.

Elliot and Hardison finally returned dressed as cops. “Where were you guys? Playing pool?” Sophie asked.

“No place you would ever want to go,” Hardison answered as he handed over the file.

“Is that the immunity agreement?” Sophie asked as she quickly looked it over.

“Hey, something about this doesn't make sense,” Elliot commented on a feeling he was having. He explained about being asked to transport a prisoner who really didn't want to go back to jail because he was a witness in a case involving dirty cops laundering money.

Sophie stood and straightened herself. “Well, until we have more than seems like, we need to proceed as planned.”

“Just be careful,” Will said to her as Elliot sat down next to him. “Things could be much more complicated than we realized.”

Sophie went up to the apartment and played her part flawlessly, convincing Vector that in order to give him immunity for a dead girl he was going to have to give up a really big fish like Moreau. “You want Moreau? You got him. I know where he keeps his money. I helped him park some of it in my fund,” Vector confessed.

“I need specifics,” Sophie pressed.

“It's not written down, it's not on a drive, it's not in a cloud. It's encrypted, and only I know how to break the code. Moreau helped fund that nightclub bombing in Cyprus last month. Now let me ask you, counselor, is that worth the life of an ice bunny who got in over her head?”

Will, Elliot, and Hardison were listening at a table in the pub when a group of guys walked in. “It's a little early for cops in a bar, isn't it?” Elliot commented.

Hardison turned to take a quick glance. “You mean those are the dirty cops the kid was talking about? How do you know?”

“Their shoes. Look at their shoes. Can't take these guys out in a room full of people. Nate there's a bunch of dirty cops down here to kill Vector.”

Nate was looking out the window at the building across the street. “Something isn't quite right.” He motioned for Vector to join him for a minute. “Hey, Vector, can I have a word? Does Moreau know you have all this information?”

“I have no idea.”

“I bet he does now.”

Sniper fire suddenly came through the window. Nate tackled Vector to the ground and crawled under the table. Will fell back into the seat with a soft groan as he turned to Elliot. “Moreau knows. Nate, get Vector's phone. That's probably how he was tracked.”

“Got it!” Nate responded after a minute.

“Okay, Nate, help is on the way,” Hardison said as he moved quickly toward the utility room. “Got dirty cops in the bar and a fed with Parker in the elevator.”

“Okay, we need you,” Elliot said to Will. “You remember Syria?”

“How could I forget?”

“Syria?” Hardison repeated in a confused tone.

“Just... Shut the power off in the back room in about ten seconds, okay?” Elliot snapped.

“You got it.”

“In position,” Will said as he entered the back room and shut his eyes.

Elliot walked up to the dirty cops and grabbed the nearest guy, smashing the guy's face into the bar. Then he stuck his tongue out and ran toward the back room. “Dark,” he gave the command as soon as he was in the room.

Hardison cut the power and the room went pitch black. The cops got out their flashlights and started looking around. One of them left to find the fuse box, but the rest kept looking for Elliot.

Because Will had kept his eyes closed his vision quickly adjusted to the dark and he was able to see better than the cops without a flashlight. He took two guys down, and once Elliot's eyes adjusted he took out the third.

“Okay, Parker, it's time for you to ditch McSweetheart and get to Nate and Sophie. And hurry,” Hardison spoke to her before he made the elevator jerk to a stop.

Elliot ran to help Hardison with the last dirty cop. “Nate, downstairs is clear,” he reported, but only heard gunfire. “Talk to me! What the hell's going on up there?”

“I'm still dealing with the sniper,” Nate answered.

“I got him,” Elliot started toward the door. “Wait, where's Will?” he noticed the man's absence. “Damn it!”

“Nate, which building?” Hardison asked.

“Right across the window from me,” Nate answered.

Hardison hacked into the building's network and set off the sprinkler system. “Those two always gotta do everything the hard way.”

Elliot entered the building the sniper was in. “Hardison, shut the alarm off.”

“Oh, now you want my help?” Hardison responded as he turned the water off.

“I see a blood trail!” Elliot snapped. “Someone is hurt bad.”

“But it's not...” Hardison couldn't even finish the sentence. “The shooting stopped.”

“This had to be Moreau,” Elliot said as he followed the blood trail. “This is how he does things.”

Nate was still trying to salvage things with Vector, who was suddenly too scared to speak. Sophie wasn't focused on that though, it no longer mattered. “How bad is it?” she asked Elliot.

“Someone lost a lot of blood as he ran away. No drag marks though. That's a good sign I think.” Elliot reached the top floor and saw Will lying unconscious just inside the door of the apartment the sniper used. Elliot ran to him and checked for a pulse. “Found him, he's just knocked out.” Then he saw the bloody knife only inches away. “The trail was from the sniper.”

“You know I had to,” Will's voice was weak as he started to come around. “This time there was no choice.”

“Take it easy,” Elliot helped him up. “I hope you know a good clean up crew.”

“I do. As soon as you put me back in bed I'll make a call.”

“So now what do we do?” Parker asked as she entered the apartment. “Vector just left with McSweeten.”

“There's no point in doing anything now,” Sophie answered with a sigh. “I mean, we had him on the hook, he trusted us, and now that's blown. He's never gonna give us anything. Besides, once he gets immunity from the courthouse, that's it. He's never gonna give us the codes to Moreau's accounts.”

“We already have his codes,” Nate announced. “Guys, how fast can you get to the courthouse?”

“I still have that cop car,” Hardison smirked.

“Sophie, you come take care of Will,” Elliot said as he headed back to the pub. “I'm driving.”

“Come on, man...” Hardison had a slight whine in his voice.

Nate turned to Parker. “You understand the plan?”

“Yeah. I'll take care of it,” she nodded.

Nate then turned to Sophie before he left. “Make sure the real FBI picks up those dirty cops downstairs. Boston PD, they like to take care of their own.”

“Where are you going?” Sophie asked.

“To see the Italian.”

They got Parker to the courthouse just in time for her to walk in and sit next to McSweeten. Vector saw her and froze for a minute as everything replayed in his head. “Wait a minute. What the hell is going on here, huh?” he started to freak out.

“Mr. Vector, sit down,” the prosecutor spoke to him sternly.

“No, counselor! This is a set up!” He started rambling about fake FBI agents trying to kill him before trying to run. Elliot and Hardison were waiting to grab him, still in their police uniforms.

Elliot leaned in to whisper into Vector's ear. “Mr. Moreau would like to speak with you.”

“You son of a bitch!” Vector tried to reach for the gun in Elliot's holster, but Parker tasered him from behind.

Hardison raised an eyebrow at Elliot. “I thought you didn't like guns.”

Elliot pulled the trigger a few times to show that nothing came out but a puff of air. “Air gun.”

Parker put her arms around both men from behind. “You know, I'm really starting to like tasing people. Is that a problem?” Elliot answered by grabbing the tasrer out of her hand.

Nate went to Vector's office where he knew the Italian would be. He was right, she had trashed the place looking for the codes to the accounts. Nate was explaining to her how he'd figured it all out and had the codes, and no longer needed her.

Both of them turned when Will entered the room. “Good job!” he said as he looked straight at the Italian woman.

“What are you...?” she seemed confused.

“Come on now, don't play dumb with me,” Will said as he sat on the corner of Vector's desk. “I'm not a man who has tried to stay on the right side of the law most of my life. Nate may not have figured you out, but I have.”

Nate raised an eyebrow at that. “You mind sharing with the class?”

“She didn't completely lie to you, her and her associates did need your help with Moreau. Nobody else wants to go after him, and for good reason. What she didn't mention is that she was hoping you'd find the accounts and kick her to the curb. That way her party gets to walk away with clean hands and not face any of the backlash that might come.”

“Is that true?” Nate turned to the woman with a sharp glare.

She only shrugged. “The less we can be tied to that man the better.”

“But you fucked up,” Will smirked.

“How?” The woman tried to remain outwardly confident, but her body tensed slightly.

“After the room stopped spinning and I put it all together, I made a call to my father, Roger Wiltshire.”

“You're...?” Her skin suddenly became two shades paler.

“His son, yes. One of them anyway. I'm the one he doesn't like much, but his blood still runs through me veins, and it's a whole thing with him. Anyway, your boss' boss is as we speak receiving a very angry phone call. If you're lucky, you'll be looking for a new job tomorrow. I just wouldn't go back to Italy, or anywhere in Africa, or Turkey, or Syria, or Greece, or... Well, you get the picture. Your hides are now worth about a quarter of a million dollars each, brought in dead.”

The woman looked like she was going to be sick as she ran from the room. “Was that a bluff?” Nate asked.

“No,” Will answered honestly. “And before you lecture, all I did was make a phone call. Well, I didn't talk directly to my father, I called Oliver and told him what happened. He told Daddy, and Daddy is genuinely very angry. My family is extremely fucked up, but there are advantages to being that man's son.”

Nate was quiet for a moment while he thought things over. “Well, there's no longer a threat looming over us.”

“Another reason I called my brother and slipped away from Elliot to deliver the good news in person. Everything that woman did was just rude.”

“Would you go after him?”

It was Will's turn to pause and think. “You and Sophie are in charge, it's your decision. Personally, I think the world would be a much better place without him in it. That being said, the reason Damien Moreau goes unchecked is because challenging him is like playing with bomb that's ready to blow.”

“That's not a helpful answer.”

Will chuckled. “But it's an honest one. Anyway, I do need to get home. Elliot is probably worried. It's just a minor concussion, but he's a very protective.... person.... when it comes to me.”

“Afraid to put a label on it?”

Will turned around in the doorway just before he left. “No. You can't label what isn't defined.”
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