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Well, there were a few close calls, but...

...

You're kidding, right?

Come on, Nate. Give me a little credit.

...You are going to have to get Hardison out of jail though.

Did he send porno magazines to someone's office?

Would you believe he tried sending them to the White House?

Really? Wow. I'm impressed.

Really? Because I'm still trying to figure out what the point of it was.

It doesn't have a point, it's a prank.

Oh.

...Then it didn't work.

I'm guessing the Secret Service wanted a word.

Yeah. They didn't look like very friendly people. I think they might be like those guys who stand in front of Buckingham Palace who get fired if they smile or whatever

They're not, and they probably do.

So where is Hardison now, specifically?

Well, as it turns out, the secret service didn't see it as a prank, so much as a threat on the president's life.

By my count? He's been in interrogation for the last 72 hours...without a bathroom break.

Oh for Christ's sake.

Here, or do I get to fly to D.C.?

Now see that's where you're lucky. He's still here.

I was going to say, I just got back from there.

We'll probably need bail money. *sighs*

Nate. I, um, I... Paul said, well, he said that you...

*she has no idea what she's doing, reaching out to him like this*

...

Maggie? *warily* What did he say?

He said that it was good to see you.

*she shifts a bit, not certain what else to say, the holidays are hard, she just wanted to hear his voice*

He said, um, he said that you helped, and that you...
*she trails off*

*this is awkward*

...yeah, well, he's a friend. And that's what friends do.

How's he doing?

He's good. He's good. Paul, you know... *again, she can only form fragments of thought*

How are you? *she asks, kind of turning around his question about Paul*

I'm...okay.

*nods a little*

Been seeing a lot of familiar faces recently. I, um, just got back from Virginia. Seeing some old friends. You probably don't remember them.

Old friends
*she mumbles, thinking that's why she's here talking with him*

So, Virginia, it was, um, good for you?
*she wants things to be good for him, she wants him to reconnect*

It was, yeah. Somewhat awkward...with me and Stark at least, considering, but um, they got married, and they're trying to have kids, and it's good to see they're good.

It's good to be good. *she replies cryptically. she's not so good. and she knows that he's not always so good*

Marriage and babies *she stumbles over the words, she starts to think reaching out to him was a mistake, it's too raw*

Yeah, well, at least she married the right guy and didn't get stuck with me. *snorts, then eyes her for a second* It wasn't your fault, Maggie. Don't think that.

My fault... *she says, she feels like a parrot but she can't seem to say anything coherent, she looks at him, he's often self deprecating, his remark about not getting stuck with him*

I mean that.

*nods a little*

I've been thinking over a lot of things, and talking to Stark and everything...

What've you been thinking? *she asks, softly, not accusatorily*

That sometimes, things work out the way they're supposed to, even if it sucks at the time.

*pauses, and then, as if to explain*

I introduced that woman to her husband. Sort of.

You think things work out the way they're supposed to *she sighs, thinking of Sam, thinking about Paul's words, that God has a plan, about how empty they seem at times. she can't hide the fact that she's upset, sad*

Maybe sometimes. At least it did for Stark and John, not so much for me.

*pauses*

Are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. *it's a big fat lie, but she manages to say it with a modicum of truth in her voice. she's trying to convince herself that she is. she's call him to let him know about Paul, but once she had his voice in her head she couldn't get it out*

And you, you're okay. *she wraps back around to what he said earlier*

Yeah, I'm fine. A little awkward with the 'having lunch with the ex-girlfriend' and 'talking to the ex-wife' and 'not killing the ex-colleague,' but fine.

*she smiles, he can still make her smile*

Killing the ex-colleague? *she asks about the last part*

Oh. Yeah. Sterling, that little prick.

*shudders*

*she's still smiling, everything changes, everything remains the same*

How did you cross paths with him? *she asks, thinking Sterling still works for the company and Nathan does not*

I was in Kentucky handling something for a client, turned out he was the investigator handling the insurance claim.

*cheerfully*

And this time, I didn't punch him ~~but I should have~~.

Kentucky *she says to herself, searching her mind for what's worth a lot of money in Kentucky*

Horses?

*nods* Yeah, exactly.

*she tries to picture him in Kentucky, maybe with a funny hat and a funny accent. she's just playing around in her mind, she's got no idea that she's close to the truth. she can't help but smile*

You, handling horses, for a client. How'd that go?

Had its twists and turns, but it went alright in the end.

I think you like that - twists and turns.

*she remembers that he liked that about working for the insurance company, he liked solving the puzzle, figuring out the scam*

I do. Most of the time.

*chuckles*

I promised Stark I would try not to get arrested.

Paul said the name of your, um, company, is Leverage. That the business, well, well, you - the clients you take on, you help them. I think he used the word unorthodox.

*Paul often understates things, so she can only imagine how unorthodox things must be*

*smirks a little*

That wouldn't be that far off, no. Hence the trying not to get arrested.

Well, we all need an endgame. *she looks away, a bit of sadness back in her eyes*

I should go. It's okay right? talking... us, talking. *she says, her way of asking if it'd be okay to do it again sometime*

It's fine. I'm...just working through a lot of things.