Hey folks! To be honest, this is the first time I ever dabbled in the arts of writing. Had the idea in my head for quit some time, though. Moreover, the english language is not my native language, so be gentle ;) Any grammar mistakes were not intended but they do get past my defences from time to time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage, it's characters or anything else related to it. I do own the character I made up: Sean Murphy. Any paralles to real existing people or events were not intended and are merely coincidence.

Redemption

„For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."

- Hosea 8:7

They called him „Vortex".

He never liked that name, in fact Sean Murphy was anything but a vortex right now. It would be more fitting if they called him wreckage for he felt like one.

When you take a man's family away, all there is left is a shade, filled with grief and despair. That actually fit to Sean but instead of giving into his grief, anger and hatred had taken foot within him.

Right now, former Sgt. Sean Murphy stood on a roof overlooking the Boston skyline trying to find his peace. The wind blew through his curly hair and he felt somewhat lighter as if the wind hand taken away some of his pain. But he knew it was not like that.

Five years ago Sean Murphy lived a happy and peaceful life with his wife Shannon and his daughter Lisa on the outskirts of Boston working at a motorcycle repair shop for he loved riding those machines since his dad took him out on his. Pacing through the air without the restrictions of a car was always getting him smile all over his face.

But one tragic moment should shatter his life in its very essence.

Shannon was diagnosed brestcancer and not long after that she died. Still his heart ached when he thought about her death and tears began to run slowly down his cheeks.

With her mother gone for ever, Lisa, who was born with asthma, constantly got sicker and more often had terrible nightmares.

A new medicament came to the market which was praised to was able to get asthma almost out of a patient's life. Normally Sean Murphy would not get his hands on such said-to-be miracles but with his wife gone and Lisa constantly getting worse it was hardly normal at all to him, so he gave it a try.

One night when Sean went into his daughter's room to see if she was sleeping well he noticed her being unusually still, for she always had quite vivid dreams. So he stepped closer to see how she was doing and when he sat down on the bed it struck him like a bullet:

She was not breathing!

He hurled around looking for her inhaler desperately while praying to all the saints known to him, that it was not to late. After what seemed an eternity to him he found the small gadget on the floor, picking it up and putting it into his daughter's mouth holding her close while pure fear settled on his face, practically begging her to breath again. But all praying and hoping was in vain, little Lisa, not even ten years old, passed away in her father's arms.

When he realized she was not waking up any more he fell into a massive stupor, holding his daughter's body through the entire night while silent tears streamed down his face.

Sean buried Lisa next to her mother and came down to the graveyard once a week to take care of their graves and to talk to his family, he knew he actually talked to himself, but it gave him some peace of mind.

Not long after Lisa's funeral he noticed an increased amount of asthma related deaths in his neighborhood, all of them using the same medicine as his daughter had. With anger rising within in him he called a few friends he made while he was a soldier and found out that said medicine had side-effects not mentioned by the company that sold it. Barn Pharmaceutics did not make them public.

You did not need to be a rocket scientist to notice what was going on: Greg Fuller, CEO of Barn Pharmaceutics, thought it was better to let people die and pay the fees when the company was sewed than to recall the product.

Even the simple mentioning of that name in his mind got Sean filled with so much hatred and contempt that he hit a nearby drip rail leaving a dent in its shape.

That was the point when Sean Murphy turned back into the man he was before he met Shannon. He always had been easily angered and his mood could change within a second from being kind and friendly into being as angry as a cornered grizzly. And that was why his fellow soldiers always called him „Vortex", for his quick changing of moods and his rather intimidating force when he was angered.

Thinking again about his little girl died because of one man's greed, it got him so furious that he hammered his fist into the drip rail again causing it to break where he hit it, but he was just to angry right now to care about that. So he took a deep breath and let the cold wind blow through his head once more, taking the hate away, at least for now.

When he made his way down from the roof onto the street it was already getting darker, he stayed half the day up that roof thinking he suddenly realized. He decided to go home to take a shower and eat something and then head to McRory's. He always liked being around there, he knew most of the people and the atmosphere in there was able to sooth his raging mind.

When he walked through the door and pulled of his jacket the bartender threw a hearty „Hello there Mr. Murphy! What can I do for you tonight?" at him. Trying to smile Sean murmured „Irish whiskey, please".

„Right away, sir!" the young man said.

Taking his seat at the bar he looked around the bar taking a sip of his whiskey from time to time. Scanning a place for exits, entrances and possible cover was an old habit he never really got rid off after his time in Croatia during the war.

Dammit, there the horrors were again. Sean never really got over the sight of a huge mass tomb his unit found just south of Zagreb, there where about 2.000 bodies in there and all of them hat to be cataloged.

When he saw what they had found he froze immediately unable to take his eyes off that witness of human cruelty.

He was pulled away from the disturbing sight by a young man he always had considered being a hothead, but there he was shown he was totally wrong about that.

Said man showed maturity you would not think he actually had for he was just in the early twenties, which earned him Sean's total respect and gratitude for pulling him away from that abomination of a grave.

While he looked around the bar, one person caught his attention and suddenly he felt the huge need to get as far away from the bar as he could. The man had long brown hair and was sitting at a table just across the room talking to a group of other people, two women one young and blonde the other more mature and of darker hair, a black young man and a man probably about forty years old.

As intense as his instinct to run was, he stayed regarding the long haired man, there was something about the way he moved that triggered something deeply buried in Sean's mind.

No way, that just can't be him, Sean thought to himself, but everything he saw was evidence to the contrary.

The world is a very small place indeed Sean said in his head not knowing whether he should be happy or sad.

As if the man had heard Sean's thoughts the man got up and walked towards the bar throwing a gaze at Sean sitting at the other side of the room now looking into his glass of whiskey. Hesitating at first the man blinked a couple of times before his facial features told anyone that he'd just seen a ghost.

Eliot was hit with the force of a running train at the sight of that man at the bar.

Of all places in the world his Sergeant during his time in Croatia chose McRory's to have a drink this evening.

Images of a mass tomb and the sergeant frozen by the sight of it flickered in his head. He lost contact to him after he left the army to just to end up as a retrieval specialist.

Collecting his thoughts and trying tho shake of that mix of feeling in shock and relief to see Sean Murphy was still alive though he looked like a walking dead, he went over to him taking a seat next so Sean. „Long time no see, serge" Eliot thought this would be the best way to start this rather strange reunion. „Do not call me that Eliot, for you know I am not a soldier anymore. It's just Sean now."

„Sorry ser..Sean" Eliot corrected himself „What brings a man like you to this place?"

„Needed to clear my head." Sean responded, more whispering than speaking.

„So hows your family doin', ol' man" Eliot joked trying to break the ice and immediately regretted it as Sean's features hardened and his grip around his glass tightened threatening the glass to burst. A single tear went down Sean's face.

„None of your damn business!" Sean growled, staring at him with his hawk-like eyes. A second later Sean's rage turned into grief as his eyes filled with water and his mouth and chin were shivering. „Sorry, shouldn't have been angry on you son" Sean almost whispered „'s just that I've been a little on edge the last weeks."

„What happened?" Eliot asked for he never saw his former Sergeant that broken and lost.

„Don't wanna talk 'bout it, OK son?" Sean answered „Well, at least not around these strangers in here."

„My teammates and I got a flat upstairs, do you wanna come up and talk about it there?" Eliot said, trying not to further upset the other man. „Teammates?" Sean raised an eyebrow „thought you preferred to work alone after Croatia?".

„Well things change, ...serge" Eliot added and Sean could not help but to smile a bit, the first time he had in weeks.

„Okay show me that flat o' yours than" Sean mentioned with confusion on his face „but what about your teammates, I believe they would wonder why Eliot Spencer walks upstairs to his team's flat with a stranger to them? That blonde girl over there seems quite perceptive to me, she looked several times in your direction now. She's a mate o' yours?"

„What blonde girl do you mea...oh yeah, that's Parker" Eliot responded and Sean did not miss the way Eliot's face lightened up for only a second when he mentioned her name „yeah I bet that they would wanna know where the hell I'm goin'. Want me to introduce you?" Eliot questioned further.

„Sure, why not? There must be something very special to them if someone like you decides to join a team".

As the two men walked over the table where Nate, Hardison, Parker and Sophie were in the middle of a talk, Eliot was not able to get the picture of Sean growling and staring at him like he was about to kill him out of his mind, something really horrible must have happened if the usually very calm sergeant gave into rage that quickly.

„Ahem...excuse me guys" Eliot started „I'd like to introduce to you Mr. Sean Murphy, former army sergeant and an ol' friend of mine, went through hell together in Croatia. Sean, these people are Parker, Nate, Sophie and Hardison" he explained.

„Nice to meet you" Sean murmured silently, shaking everyone's hands.

„He and I were just 'bout goin' up to talk over some things and Sean here mentioned that you would wonder where I was goin' with a stranger" Eliot explained „ so I thought I'd introduce him, knowing that your curiosity would getter the better of you all and you'd follow us anyway, so why don't y'all come along right now?"

As they all agreed, the Leverage team and went up to their rooms, not prepared at all for what they were about to hear.

There was silence between the six people standing in the Leverage flat. Each of the team reacted differently to the story Sean Murphy just told them.

Eliot's face got paler every minute and his eyes watered while he clenched his fists so strong that he thought they cramped. It just was not right that Sean lost everything he treasured in life within a couple of years, but even worse was the fact that his daughter Lisa had to die. A child! Not even ten years of age. It was then that Eliot decided to take that SOB Greg Fuller down, no matter the cost.

Parker sat on the sofa eating her favorite cereal but as Sean told his story she dropped her bowl at one point and stared right into that man's face trying to memorize every word he said. She never saw a man sob that often while telling his story and she wondered if you could dehydrate from simple crying, because there were rivers of tears streaming down Sean's face.

Hardison stood in shock. He never heard a story that sad. Unable to hold the tears gathering in his eyes he let himself drop on a seat nearby an stared into space. A few moments later he caught himself again, glancing shortly at his laptop, determined to dig up everything that bastard Fuller wanted to keep secret.

Sophie turned around to Nate burying her head in his chest crying her heart out for she never witnessed such an amount of pain in a man. Nate's mind however, went 10 years back to the day he stood in front of the door leading into his sons room at the hospital, praying that he would make it and remembered how he felt the day his son died, he was in fact the only one who could anticipate what Sean went through these last years.

Sean just broke down onto a chair when he finished his "tale", feeling both somewhat relieved a bit for telling others about his grief and yet guilty to have burdened the team's minds with his pain. When he sat down on his chair his eyes closed and he fell asleep, completely drained.

When he woke up, he noticed that he was laying in a bed, which puzzled him at first but then he figured that the others must have taken him here. He got up and remembered the way Nathan Ford looked when he heard about Sean's daughter. Sean could almost tell for certain that Nate must have also suffered the loss of a child, at some point he looked just as broken as Sean felt.

He decided to take a shower to clear his head before heading down to the living room. He actually heard voices down there but could not really make out what they were talking about. Never mind, he thought, I will get to know for certain when I'm down there.

"There has to be a way to bring that man down!" Hardison almost yelled as Sean walked down the stairs.

"I don't see any possibilities apart from killing him!" Eliot growled back. "So why can't we just do that and kill him?" Parker asked sitting on the table hugging her knees.

"Cause that would turn you all into murderers and an investigation would follow, and I'm sure my daughter did not want her daddy to kill someone." Sean answered., while all three of them turned their heads to look at him.

"Good point" Parker simply said, looking a little disappointed.

"So how are you feelin' after your sleep?" Eliot asked though he knew the answer to that question already.

"Why are you discussing how to take him down at all?" Sean responded ignoring Eliot's initial request.

"We help people" came Parker's instant answer.

"Uh-huh. Tried to check his financials to see on what he spends most of his money?"

"He seems quite taken with sculptures. He paid 500.000$ last week for a sculpture made by Michelangelo" Hardison mentioned.

"Than that's our way in" Nate said who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere followed by Sophie.

"I doubt any of you is a worldwide known sculptor in his or her free time?" Sean asked raising an eyebrow.

"No but we just have to make up a background for Eliot, which sais that he is one of the best sculptors in Europe, but has yet to make a name. Fuller will not have any other choice but to make a deal with him as greedy as he is" Nate explained.

"Followed you so far but where do you get a statue for Fuller to buy?" Sean asked. After he said that he noticed Parker grinning all over her face with a certain glint in her eyes. He had last seen something similar when Eliot talked about his girlfriend Aimee back when they were in Croatia. He wondered if they still were together but he doubted that as he remembered Eliot's face when he first mentioned Parker's name to him earlier. He couldn't help but think that they would make a nice couple. He had to ask Eliot about Parker later.

"What's she smiling about?" Sean questioned.

"Let's go steal ouselves a masterpiece" Nate said as he left the room as quickly as he entered it.

Noticing the confused look on Sean's face, Parker moved towards him. "We are thieves" she said bluntly "we steal things."

"I don't think you need to explain what a thief does to him Parker, I think he knows that".

"But he looked so puzzled I just wanted to help him understand!".

Sean almost chuckled over the young blonde's honesty and innocence and he sure had laughed about that would it not have reminded him of his late daughter.

"There's somethin' wrong with you" Eliot said and Parker went away, looking very annoyed. She just wanted to help!

"I guess she gets to hear that a lot" Sean mentioned on Parker's departure. "You have no idea man." There was that certain spark in his eyes again that gave him away. You would not have noticed this action of his if you didn't know Eliot Spencer the way Sean did.

"You like her very much, don't you?" Sean whispered but it was loud enough for Eliot to hear. He had to fight the urge to knock Sean out for saying what he did not want to admit. But Eliot knew that Sean was a very capable fighter himself. He looked into Sean's eyes and said "No man, she's just twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag".

"Come on son, you don't honestly think you can fool me. I saw that spark in your eyes when you mentioned her name to me earlier and when you told her that there was somethin wrong with her. I know that's your way of telling her that she means something to you son."

Now it was Eliot's turn to get angry at his former sergeant "No. And that's all I'm gonna say 'bout that topic" he growled.

"Shielding yourself from feelings doesn't help a thing. I imagine you do this to protect yourself from getting hurt again. But think about it: admitting your feelings is what makes us human, blocking them is just gonna hurt you even worse".

Eliot was always surprised that Sean could look through him like nobody else. He was like an open book to him and he didn't like being exposed. Never did.

"I think you should try to explain yourself to her, unspoken feelings often hurt way worse" Sean added. "Now you're lecturin' me again serge. I'm not a small boy any more. Besides, you don't know what she's like."

"Have it your way, I'm just sayin" Sean said raising his hands to show he surrendered. But he was certain that he got Eliot starting to think about that matter which was good enough for him. He was no panderer after all, just wanted the young man to be happy, for he knew he didn't have many happy moments in life.

And something about Parker's behavior triggered the alarm systems in his head, somehow he felt she didn't have a cheerful life either.