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Meals in the bunker, Hardison had come to accept, were far less about what you ate and more about consuming the necessary calories to survive in this new life of theirs. They were bland and dense and repetitive.
One look at Parker’s less than happy expression as she took a bite of her own breakfast confirmed she was thinking exactly the same as he was. As if they needed another reason to miss Eliot.
Still, free food was free food, and no amount of la-de-da cheffing on anyone’s part could completely erase the part of Hardison’s brain that had been a poor foster boy without enough to go around, so he ate what was in front of him without complaint and tried to school his expression into something polite. Across the table, Nate and Sophie were doing the same. Parker was… slightly less successful, but the attempt alone got her just as many points in Hardison’s (possibly biased) book.
A clatter from the hall announced the arrival of another family of residents, for lack of a better term. Two small children tore into the room, a little girl clearly chasing her brother.
“Give it back!” she cried, and from her tone Hardison could tell this wasn’t just a game.
This was about to become a long morning.
The little boy clutched whatever he had taken close to his chest and stomped his foot from the relative safety of behind a table. “It’s my turn!” he said petulantly.
“Kids, indoor voices and indoor games, please,” came the tired voice of their mother as she rounded the corner and joined everyone in the common area they had allocated for mealtimes. She was a kind, heavily pregnant woman by the name of Danai. She and Sophie got on very well, but Hardison couldn’t help but imagine being stuck down here when she inevitably went into labour, and spending time with her made him nervous. Still, he could see and respect that she was going through exactly what they were without the support of another adult while wrangling two kids and some killer morning sickness, which he understood to be quite rare in late stage pregnancy. Talk about long end of the stick.
“But mama, she had it all day yesterday and all night!” The little boy whined.
“Nuh-uh! Not true! You had it for a bit yesterday!”
“For like one second! It’s my turn Anu!”
“Kids! We do not stay here alone, let’s be mindful of the other people we share this space with, hmm?” She fixed them both with a glare and they reluctantly fell into sullen silence. “Now, Anoona, you did have it all of yesterday. Today is Rudo’s turn.”
The girl’s face immediately crumpled even as the boy’s lit up, and Hardison braced himself for the outcry that was sure to follow.
“I don’t want to hear it, darling,” Danai said before she had even opened her mouth. “You may have another turn tomorrow. Now why don’t you go and get something to eat?”
Both kids headed over to the kitchen area and, upon seeing Jody wave that she had them from where she was serving herself, Danai left them to it and beelined for the seats.
She sat down with a weary sigh.
“Good morning,” Nate greeted mildly, prompting a harsh laugh to escape her.
“Good, yes, that,” she said flatly. “I apologise for my children. It is not easy for them.”
Sophie was already reaching across to touch her arm in offered comfort. “Don’t worry about them. It’s good for us to have a bit of drama around here, keeps us on her toes.”
“Drama is certainly one word for it,” Danai agreed. “It’s their father’s medal. He said they should look after it until they can give it back to him and they’ve taken that literally. Fuck, it’s become a nightmare.”
“Your husband served?” Nate prompted, not quite unable to let go of the ‘mastermind’ attitude that said he had to know everything about everyone in the room.
Danai nodded. “That’s how he was introduced to hunting. And you know what they say; once a hunter…” she trailed off. “It’s not fair to be angry, but I am.”
Hardison could relate to that. “Join the freaking club, girl.”
She smiled tiredly. “Guess I’m preaching to the choir, huh?”
The kids returned with little bowls of breakfast and Jody close behind. “You’re not eating, Danai?” she asked in a deliberately light tone of voice.
“Ah, no, not this morning, Jody,” Danai said tightly. “Maybe a bit later.”
Jody seemed to decide not to push it but a small frown lingered on her face for a second before she visibly pushed it down.
“So, anyone doing anything fun today?” she asked brightly.
Trying not to be the one to point out the obvious, that none of them had exactly great prospects for the day, Hardison offered, “I thought we could try out that at-home gym you guys have set up. Parker might like the monkey bars.”
Jody smiled gratefully at the offering. “That sure sounds fun. It was a great idea, thanks for thinking of it.”
Parker looked up from her bowl and they both silently acknowledged the obvious: the gym had been suggested by them since their arrival, and since there was no reason for Bobby to have had all that stuff lying around and not have built a gym, someone had to have been outside. Recently.
But, Eliot had told them to trust him. Had asked them to stay. So they would.
Danai seemed completely oblivious to this, something else they couldn’t help but notice. She was so clearly a civilian, straight-laced and all about that nine-to-five (that she had bemoaned several times would be difficult about this sudden, unexplained time off – Hardison had already drawn up plans in his head to create a very official, very classified leave of absence admission to her company on her behalf upon their release) so what was she doing here? What was she doing married to a guy wrapped up in the same stuff as Eliot, whatever it was, and despite all this she still seemed to know more than any of them about what that might be?
They had asked her about it the same day they met her, the moment it became apparent she was not as bewildered and confused as them, but she refused to give them any answers. “I’m not going to ruin your lives that way,” she had said, “especially not with your man out there risking everything. If he has protected you this much so far, I won’t be the one to spit on his good efforts while he could very well die for his struggles. No, when you see him again then you can ask him. And if you don’t see him again, then all the better not to know. You can trust me on that.”
They had not trusted her on that, but despite their best efforts, no one had been willing to speak on the matter, so reluctantly they had been forced to table that line of investigation. It was a tough pill to swallow.
Then again, nothing about adjusting to life here had been easy; whatever Eliot was doing couldn’t be over soon enough in Hardison’s eyes.
Rudo knocked a bowl onto the floor and Danai’s shoulders collapsed.
“Danai, I’ve got the kids for a spell. Go lie down,” Jody said kindly, seeing her steel herself to get up.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m sure. Take the morning to relax, don’t you worry about us,” Jody smiled, and Danai looked pathetically grateful.
“Thanks, Jody. Just for a few hours. I really need it today.”
Getting up seemed to Hardison to be a much greater chore for her than sitting down, and he absently wondered how difficult it must be to be that huge. Could she even tie her shoes?
Despite this, she managed and waddled out of the room, presumably to return to her room and get some rest. Jody herded the kids out, turning left where Danai had turned right, towards the area they’d set up for the kids to play, leaving them alone again.
“I can’t pretend it doesn’t ruffle my feathers that she seems to know all about his hunting business and we don’t,” Sophie grumbled as she helped Hardison gather their dirty dishes.
“That’s not exactly her fault,” Nate countered.
“I never said it was! I just think Eliot could have done us the curtesy of explaining what exactly is going on before sending us here.”
This wasn’t a new argument, but it never got further than this. Inevitably someone would shut it down.
“Can we not do this again?” Today it was Parker. “There’s no point telling us and Eliot’s not here to hear it.”
Sophie closed her eyes and sighed. “You’re right, I’m sorry Parker. I’m just frustrated.”
“We’re all frustrated,” Hardison said. “Eliot owes us some answers, that’s for damn sure. But that will have to wait for the man himself because none of us know anything and apparently everyone who does won’t tell us.”
Under the guise of taking some plates to the sink, Nate refilled his glass. “Well, say what you like about the accommodations, at least the drinks are good.”
“Really? Another?” Sophie asked.
Deeming his dismissive wave an unsatisfactory response, Sophie left. “I’ll be in our room running lines for my next play,” she said on her way out, “and going crazy."
*
They spent the morning in the gym exploring the thief-level personalisations Jody and Bobby had created over the last few days. Or, rather, Parker explored them and Hardison sat against the wall, content to watch his girl enjoy herself from the safety of the ground.
Once Parker was sweaty and panting, they headed back through the dark corridors to the rooms and, more importantly, showers. How Bobby got them water, Hardison didn’t know, but he was certainly grateful. He was sure that after the first week underground this whole mini civilisation he was running would have fallen apart completely without them.
It was on their way back to their room that Hardison heard the unmistakable sound of someone crying. One look at Parker and he knew she’d heard it too. In wordless agreement they changed course and made their way towards the sound.
It was muffled, clearly someone trying not to draw attention and Hardison could hear a woman’s voice over the noise attempting to soothe the crying woman, who, it quickly became apparent, was Danai. Hardison dismissed this as a pregnancy thing and was about to move Parker away back towards the showers when Danai said something that made them freeze.
“How can he just be dead ?”
Creeping closer, Parker and Hardison rounded a corner and found themselves at a door that had been shut either too carelessly or too harshly as it had failed to close all the way. Through the gap they could see a weeping Danai ripping her arms out of Jody’s grip. “I don’t want your useless platitudes, I want answers!” she demanded.
Jody took a deep breath. “I don’t think the answers you’re asking for are going to be of any comfort, Danai,” she said softly but firmly. “Don’t ask for details you don’t want.”
“How could this happen? How could you let this happen?”
“Now, Danai,” Bobby said, stepping forward out of a blind spot. “Chip knew the risks going in. There wasn’t a guarantee he’d walk out again. He went in anyway.”
Danai scoffed. “Because you fed him a load of crap about the state the world would be in if he didn’t. He wanted to make it safe for us.”
“No crap, here, Danai,” Jody rebuked gently. “Just a lot of worst case scenarios and less than a dozen people willing to do anything about it.”
“Well it’s one person fewer today,” Danai snapped. “I need to get my kids.”
“Danai, we can’t keep you here,” Bobby said gruffly, “But we think you’d be safer if you stayed. We want you to stay.”
Danai let out another sob. “How long how long will we be trapped here? I haven’t seen sunlight in weeks, my children are pale and thin. We need to bury their father.” She looked suddenly stricken. “Is there even a body?”
Jody winced.
“There is a body,” Bobby began hesitantly. “It’s just in a different state to the boys right now.”
“I’m going to be sick.”
Hardison winced as Jody ran for a bucket. Parker wrapped her hand around Hardison’s hand and gave him a warning look. Don’t you dare, she mouthed as he tried to keep it together even as his stomach rolled.
“Has he- has he been-” Danai cut herself off.
“I’m afraid so,” Jody confirmed whatever terrible conclusion she’d drawn without giving Hardison or Parker a clue. “But the boys are going to try and get him back.”
Danai scoffed. “Because that’s such a huge priority for hunters.”
“Usually, no,” Jody agreed, “but Spencer’s been… pretty insistent.”
“Eliot Spencer,” Danai said it like a curse and a thank you all in one. “I should’ve told Chip to back out the second I heard he was involved. I should’ve told him to run for the hills. Everyone knows he’s out of the game, not even the fucking Horsemen could bring him back in, but he came for this? We should’ve run.”
Neither Bobby or Jody made no move to say anything else as Danai started weeping in earnest.
“We should’ve run,” she repeated, quieter.
*
Immediately upon returning to their room, Hardison opened his laptop to find whatever part of the Bobby-hunter communication chain he’d missed while Parker hit the showers. Sure enough, there was an unopened video waiting for him in the trap he’d laid to catch any communications that came through while he wasn’t online. It wasn’t a long one, but it had to contain some answers.
It was the tall one, Sam, on his own, sitting at the laptop and looking sombre. “We lost Chip today.” He began. “It was rough on all of us, but Dean was right there. He just… couldn’t reach him in time. And the people who have been out of the game for a while are taking it pretty hard.” Hardison didn’t know which one Dean was, but he felt sorry for the man. Sam hesitated before adding, “Chip’s… mobile at the moment. We didn’t get the body.” Hardison wondered if that was referencing the same thing Danai was concerned about.
There was a moment before Sam spoke again. “Listen, Bobby, I know we don’t normally bother with the bodies, but Spencer here is insisting. And honestly, we need a win. We’re not getting anywhere here and morale is low. I’m concerned this will be,” he closed his eyes and said, clearly quoting someone, “the straw that shoots the camel in the face.” He smirked half-heartedly before sobering again. “That was one of Chip’s. Anyway, we can’t afford to lose anyone else and last we saw, Chip was only a few hours away. We want to give him a hunter’s funeral. We’ll message with an update when we have one. Bye.” The screen went black with no further information. 39 seconds, and no Eliot.
He replayed it for Parker when she returned, hair wet and dripping, and again for Nate and Sophie when they came in, filling them in on what he and Parker overheard. There was no great explanation, only more questions.
Danai and the kids weren’t at dinner, and the team didn’t see them for breakfast or lunch either. That night they agreed and took shifts in the cafeteria to wait, just in case. After two days of nothing, they started to question whether they were even still in the bunker. Maybe Danai had taken them out, like it seemed like she was threatening to do.
On the third day, however, the family was at breakfast. Danai looked even worse than usual, and the kids were subdued. Sophie went over to sit beside them and Danai collapsed into her side. Neither of them said anything, but Sophie wrapped her arms around her and neither of them moved for ages. Hardison and Nate quietly sorted breakfast for the kids and Parker set down a plate in front of Danai that she ignored.
“You should eat, Danai,” Sophie said softly. “For the baby.”
Danai rattled out a shaky breath. “This baby won’t even let me keep down plain toast. I can’t eat, we have no money, no income. My husband is-” she broke off, looking at her children. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Sophie promised. “Hardison is handy with stuff like that. We’ve got you sorted.”
Danai frowned. “What does that mean?”
“These kind of things? Sometimes it’s better not to ask questions,” Nate said gently.
“I’m sorry, but this is my children’s future. I can’t accept that,” Danai said firmly.
Sophie smiled understandingly. “We understand,” she said. “Nate just means that our specialty is under a slightly different bracket to most peoples. We work outside the law. Hardison, specifically, is good with computers,” Hardison bit back a retort about how good was practically an insult to him, “and he’s written a code that will run as soon as it connects to the internet that will take care of you and your family. He doesn’t even need to press enter. We can give it to you, if you want, so you can make sure it reaches a signal when you leave.”
Danai furrowed her brows. “What do you mean, taken care of?”
“Financially, you got a… call it a windfall, heading your way. Professionally, I’ve got you covered too, girl,” Hardison said, smiling. “Your company will get an extremely legitimate document retroactively exempting you from work, and you’ll be welcome back whenever you wish to go, expiration never. Take some time for the baby and go back in a year or two. It will still be valid. Or they’re liable to a tidy payout that, trust me, they will do anything other than pay. Your job is safe.”
Danai’s eyes welled up. “That is such a relief to hear,” she said. “You have no idea how grateful I am. How can I ever thank you for that?”
“No thanks necessary,” Parker said. “That’s the kind of thing we do. Help people the law can’t, or won’t.”
“Granted, the circumstances here are a little out of our usual sandbox, but we’re pretty flexible when it comes to taking clients,” Nate continued. “And you’re good people, Danai. Besides, this was downright easy for us.”
“And it’s not like we have a whole lot else to do,” joked Hardison.
Danai let out a watery laugh. “You got that right,” she scoffed. “Fucking hunters.”
Whatever that meant.
*
Hardison had spent the week practically glued to his laptop, so they had all already seen the message by the time Jody informed Danai.
“They’ve found your husband,” she said gently, resting a hand on Danai’s shoulder. “He’s had a hunter’s funeral and they’ve buried the remains. Once this is over, they can share the location of his final resting place, and you can visit him. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.”
Danai shook her head. “This is more than I expected. Thank you, and tell your boys thank you too.”
Jody nodded, then after a quick look of indecision added, “Please, stay here until it’s safe. Chip wanted you guys looked after, and, given the circumstances, I imagine there are some bad people out there who know exactly who you are. Let us protect you.”
Danai sighed and inclined her head. “I want to say no, but even I know that would be foolish,” she allowed. “My children deserve better than my spite. We will stay.”
Jody visibly relaxed and she smiled. “I’m pleased to hear it.”
However, Hardison couldn’t help but notice the steel set of Parker’s shoulders at the interaction. He could feel the components of her brain ticking and immediately his plans started rewriting themselves. He would follow her anywhere, and he knew the look that was settling on her face. She had waited enough. That was her action face.
Sure enough, as soon as they were back in their rooms, Parker had barely closed the door before announcing, “We have to get out of here.”
Sophie shook her head. “Eliot asked us to stay here, Parker.”
“Eliot is clearly way out of his depth! He needs us!” Parker argued.
“No, friends respect each other’s wishes. Eliot wouldn’t have asked if there wasn’t a reason.”
“That’s the problem!” Parker burst out. “Friends would stay. But family would never leave him to face this on his own. Family would go and find him.”
Sophie didn’t argue back, indecision clear on her face.
“Hardison?” Parker asked.
“I’m with you, Mama.” Hardison shrugged. “Eliot’s ours. We’ve just been waiting around on him, but let’s face it, when have any of us ever wanted something and then just waited for it to fall into our laps? We’re thieves. We steal what we want.”
Sophie still didn’t look sure. “Did you see that bruise on his face?” Parker pushed. “Sophie, somebody died. When have any of us ever done better on our own than as part of this crew? We make each other stronger.”
“Okay,” Sophie nodded. “So we go and find him. Nate?”
Nate, who had sat silently until then, just smiled, looking for all the world like he’d been waiting for them to catch up and they finally had. “Alright, then,” he said, bringing his hands together. “Let’s go steal an Eliot.”