#leverage fic

who what where (1369 words) by magsintherain Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Leverage (US TV 2008) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Nathan Ford, Sophie Devereaux (Leverage), Eliot Spencer (Leverage), Alec Hardison, Parker (Leverage), Jim Sterling (Leverage) Additional Tags: Medium: Logic Grid Puzzle, i mean there's fic too but mostly it's told in the form of a logic puzzle, con gone wrong, Major Character Injury Summary: A con goes wrong, and Nate must work out what happened from the few pieces he managed to catch.

it's canon that Maggie had no idea IYS denied Sam's cancer treatment, that's the only reason she stayed friendly with Blackpoole. So au where instead of letting his life fall apart, putting together the team, and then taking down Blackpoole, Nate decides to echo current events and just. Fucking shoots his boss.

and Maggie has no clue why.

maybe he succeeds, maybe he doesn't, either way he goes to jail for this (he was not planning to get away with it). And Maggie's just lost her son, now her husband's an (attempted) murderer and in prison, she's on her own and has no answers for any of this.

So she goes looking.

she might not directly have Nate's contacts and experience, but he had to have talked about these cases, she knows who a few of these people are through him. But she also has her own connections through the art world - like, Parker and Sophie at least have to be talked about by appraisers, collectors, people who work with the things they steal. And she has Sterling, who while still probably not helpful for breaking the law at least likes her more than he likes Nate and might be able to get her some more information. Like why the fuck Nate did what he did.

And she's not a mastermind, she's not Nate's level of manipulative and three steps ahead of everyone else, but she doesn't need to be. She's smart and charismatic and quick to put pieces together (the fucking button camera scene). So. She figures it out.

And then she has to decide what to do about it.

She's not going to be able to exonerate Nate - he shot a man in broad daylight and fully admitted it. She might be able to break him out of prison if he's up for being on the run, but that's a matter of hot debate between the two of them right now. (She could totally do it, especially with the team, she and Sophie are just waiting for him to stop being overprotective.)

(side note: nate's face when he finds out his ex wife and international criminal not-technically-an-ex are running a team together while he's stuck in prison? priceless)

but what she can do is protect other kids like Sam. Seek out corruption, find the people being hurt, and with her team, stop the people responsible from ever doing it again.

But there's no way Nate should know those things. No way the client could have told him, no way he could've figured it out on his own. Not when these things were nothing more than fleeting thoughts from the mark. But Sophie notices him quietly go for the scotch behind the counter and rub at his head in pain with extra vehemence some days despite the latest con having no personal connection to him.

They don't talk about it.

But someone should've recognized Sophie on that con. There's no way she could have that many characters per con. No way none of those diplomats didn't recognize her from any of her previous cons. Not when she didn't change any more than her clothes and accent. But Nate notices her features seem to flicker at the peace and safety of home when she thinks he isn't watching.

They don't talk about it.

But no one could've survived that. And certainly not looking the way he does. There's no way he didn't come out of that fight broken and bloodied to all hell. Not when instead he walks out with a purposeful stride and only a clenched jaw, rolling his shoulders. But when he's cooking and accidentally burns himself, Parker notices the unmarked skin left behind.

They don't talk about it.

But not all vents are human sized. They all saw the size of the vent cover as she exists with a grin. There's no way she could've fit in there. Not when the human body can't bend that way, a way that even the greatest contortionist can't bend. But some days Hardison notices as she seems to stretch and bend before his eyes when she's feeling relaxed and safe enough.

They don't talk about it.

But that's not how computers work. There's no way Hardison could access that kind of thing. Not when he describes how he did it like that. Not when he does it so quickly like that. Not when he says he's taken berries and the next thing they know he's recreated a colonial era journal to perfection. But Eliot swore he shoved a glass of water at him, not more goddamn orange soda.

They don't talk about it, the thing lingering over their heads as they conduct each con, the unacknowledged thing between the five of them that's a little deeper than just a desire to take down the rich and powerful.

They aren't perfect, they all know that- sometimes they're too good with their covers, sometimes they have to shift gears as the con unfolds before them, but somehow things always seem to work out.

But no one asks about it, so-

then they start the actual shopping, which goes back and forth between hardison reading things off the list and the two of them bickering over which specific things to purchase—those bananas look good, no they’re gonna go ripe too fast, the store-brand froot loops are fine, hardison, no they’re not, they’re absolutely not as good (“he’s right,” parker chimes in, which makes eliot sigh and hardison blow her about a million kisses), how about we get moose tracks ice cream this time, no we got that last time, i want just plain chocolate, babe you’re so boring, plus we’ve both got, like, oodles of money, we can get more than one thing of ice cream, okay okay fine, put ’em both in. there’s also usually points at which one or both of them make conversation with the people who work at the store: hardison’s chatty with charlie who runs the bakery counter, and him and charlie debate favorite kinds of bagels and breads before they walk away with whatever charlie recommends for the week, and then there’s moira at the deli counter that parker and hardison always tease eliot about because even if she’s like sixty and married and totally harmless, she’s also definitely a little bit in love with eliot (hardison always says well no duh, who wouldn’t be, and parker always says that if her salami wasn’t as good as it is she’d be more jealous, but it’s really good salami so moira’s fine). as ever moira pinches eliot’s cheeks and asks him what he’s cooking for the week, and she weighs out their cheeses and meats. this time she also says “oh, no parker today?” and eliot says “nah, wasn’t feelin up to the store,” and moira says “well, take this home for her then,” and hardison informs parker that moira’s packing up a separate little ziploc of prosciutto for her (additional points in moira’s favor). then once they’re all set they keep moving along

there’s always a point during the trip where eliot and hardison will go suspiciously quiet, or sometimes they’ll turn off their comms entirely—this is because they’re doing Parker Treat Time. any time she doesn’t go to the store with them, they always make sure to bring home something special for her. the whole time they’re either quiet or gone parker can’t stop grinning, and when they come back she says “hmmm i wonder what the boys could’ve gotten me this time???????” and hardison and eliot simultaneously and respectively say “girl it’s a surprise!!” and “worms” (or something similarly ridiculous). that always makes parker smile, and for the rest of the time that they’re gone parker’s all fizzy and impatient to know what her treat is.

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Rating: General Audiences

Summary: Parker realizes terrifying hitter Eliot Spencer is actually just a very large, very confused bear.

Word Count: 381 Words

Warning(s): None

Tags: One Shot, Found Family, Team As Family, Team Leverage, Fluff, Humor

Characters: Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison, Parker

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After Parker goes down, Eliot sees red. Goes somewhere he doesn’t like to go, shadowy corners in the deep recesses of his mind, the place where “knowledge of guns” sits next to “how to rip out a heart through the chest cavity.” He’s armed but doesn’t remember picking up a weapon; seven-eight-ten-twelve thugs rush him and there’s two for every one he topples, but Eliot doesn’t feel pain, he just feels impact. They hurt Parker. People who hurt Parker die.

"babe. Lil' mama. Sweetheart. Why are you jumping into traffic again? We finished the job"

"The guy got away"

That was all the warning Hardison got before his wonderful, unpredictable girlfriend dropped off the comm lines, leaving him wondering where she was going.

Eliot was downstairs in the basement of the building they had taken over for the quick job they were wrapping up. He was... Actually, what was Eliot doing?

"Hey, Eliot. Whatcha doing down there? We have to wrap up in here and do the gloat... Oh, and I lost Parker again"

"Damn it, Hardison! Whaddya think I'm trying to do?! And take a breath, man. Parker can handle herself, and if she's running off it usually means she has a good reason"

"yeah, no, I know, but I just... You know Parker. I just wish she would talk to us more. Y'know?"

"mhm. Hey, Hardison?"

"yeah, Eliot?"

"Go do your damn job!"

Hardison had to stop and turn off his own comm for a moment. He knew, deep down, that Eliot was simply trying to take his mind off of Parker running off. Unfortunately, the if-then chart Eliot's mind ran on went something along the lines of, 'if sad, then punch. If scared, then cook. If hacker freaking out, then do not act abnormally. If hacker talk, then roll eyes,' where Hardison's was more of an, 'if sad, then why? And how? And what can we do? And when should we do it? And where's Eliot? And why am I making decisions, this is not what we agreed to damnit Eliot!' it's really more of an if-and chart.

He knew that the hitter cared about him, the many night shared in a bed far bigger than needed told him that. The calm moments they had, just the three of them, when they didn't have to worry about who saw told him that. But sometimes Eliot forgot that his words come off harsh, and with the stress of almost getting caught, missing that corner guard, and Parker running off, Hardison can't help the small tears that form in his eyes, nor the tension in his jawline as he keeps it from quivering.

It's a lot! Sue him! He's in the process of running three different teams, making sure his nana's bills are paid, and keeping his siblings all above board! A man's allowed to cry every once in a while!

Static breaks through his overwhelmed concentration long enough for him to catch the tail end of Parker's message.

"-at the old brewpub."

They'd had to leave the pub as a main hub just because it picked up popularity, which was not the worst thing in the world, at least to Hardison. Eliot got to cook, Parker got to sneak around, and he got to watch the two people he loves most in this world do the things they're best at. However, due to the newfound popularity, they all figured a smaller house in relative obscurity would work best.

Hardison still went to visit the brewpub at least once a week, just to make sure Amy was keeping it in good hands. Many of the people caught in the cross hairs of the jobs Leverage had pulled ended up working at the pub, so she had a lot to handle. She was good at that, though.

Hardison bolted up, fear lancing through his veins as worst case scenarios filled his mind. Parker dead, Eliot dead, everyone dead. In this line of work, they all know the hazards, but Hardison would like to keep his partners alive and well, thank you.

He dashed down the hall only to find Eliot already behind the wheel of Lucille 4.0 (Don't ask about Lucille 3. It's a painful memory) with one of the mixtapes already playing. Small worry lines were etched into the beautiful face of the man he loved.

The second Hardison's seatbelt clicked, Eliot was off, tearing down back roads as Hardison tried really hard not to panic. The comforting presence of Eliot's hand on his upper thigh helped, but not a lot. He needed Parker, needed her resolute determination and her blunt but caring words.

After a lifetime of driving and the longest sunset ever, the two men arrived at the brewpub. They were met with Amy's sheepish visage grinning back at them with a clear, 'this was not my fault' look on her face. Eliot burst into the room, expecting flames or blood, but all the two men found was a single, three seated table, with the most beautiful woman in earth sitting down, pride gleaming in her eyes.

"I finally surprised you guys!" Parker's eyes shined so brightly Hardison didn't even have the energy to tell Parker that she surprised them everyday, and always for the better. God, he loved this woman.

"that you did, darlin'. Wanna tell us whatcha got here?"

"oh! Right! So, Amy helped me pick out the menu, and at first I was going to call you, Eliot, but then that would ruin the surprise, so I know you like country food and Hardison likes weird food, so we came up with stew, and then I was thinking about that show with a guy named Stuey in it and I couldn't remember so we figured out it was family guy and then for dessert we have chocolate!"

The grin Parker gave them was worth two billion polar stars, all the diamonds in the world, and then some.

Eliot was the first to respond, with a hesitant, "what's all this for, though? Alec 'nd I, we were getting kinda worried. You just ran off with nothing to follow."

"it's our anniversary, silly! Sophie tells me that those are important things to remember, especially when you love someone, and I love you both so much. It's a little weird. Kind of uncomfortable, but I'm getting used to it. The whole, loving and relying on people to be there outside of the job thing, I mean. anyway, you two, but especially Hardison, put so much effort into all of our surprises and I wanted to do something to show that I care, because the years that I have known you guys have been the best of my life. I love you both. Now let's eat!"

And that was when Hardison let the tears break. Finally be could see; they weren't mocking him or ignoring his boundaries of communication, she was just trying to be thoughtful and he was just confused. God, did he love his two idiots more than anything in the world. He would give up hacking if it meant he got ten more minutes with these two.

Rough, chapped lips met his own in a sweet kiss, and he wrapped his arms around Parker to convey the thoughts in his mind. They did that a lot-- talk with their lips but not their voices. Softer lips made scratchy with stubble found gentle purchase on his shoulder, and the three of them embraced like that for nowhere near as long as he wanted.