Some Kind of Family [Leverage Fanfic]
Title: Some Kind of Family
Show: Leverage
Word Count: 563
Pairing/Characters: Eliot, Eliot/Nate friendship implied
Summary: I was really struck by the scene in the finale (The Lost Heir Job) where Nate is almost shot by the crooked cop. The way Eliot shouted Nate's name (and blowing his cover in the process) showed how concerned he was. Which, considering it's Eliot, is rarity to see on the show. So this story came from that. Post-episode, Eliot is wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gotten there in time. What did Nate mean to them?
Eliot was angry. Jaw clenched, he showed no mercy to his punching bag, fist connecting hard with the weighted leather again and again.
Usually, his bag was a method of release. Picturing faces, people, things that angered him on the bag, then beating the crap out of it always made him feel better. Refreshed. Relieved.
Not today. The face he was beating wasn’t going away. Even when he’d decided enough was enough and was unwrapping his hands, he still saw him. He rubbed his hands, trying to get rid of the numbness settling in his knuckles. Still felt the grit on his hands from launching the rock. Still felt the cold steel of the gun in his hands. Still felt the rage coursing through him.
Stretching, he winced and carefully massaged the muscle in his shoulder. He wasn’t surprised that it hurt. When you threw somebody over your shoulder, it was practically expected.
Sure as hell didn’t make it hurt any less though.
He thought again about what happened. What is Nate hadn’t told him to act as backup? What if he’d been late? After all, he damn near was.
When he threw the rock to buy himself time, what if he’d missed?
He sighed and collapsed on the couch with a groan. Nate had no idea how lucky he was. Guys armed with guns like that... those kind of guys rarely missed. Nate had been lucky. They all had.
He remembered the last time Nate had been in that kind of a situation. He and Soph had been trapped in the bank. Connection cut off. He remembered how helpless him and Hardison and Parker had been. It had worked out in the end, sure. But not for that moment. For that moment, they were lost.
Eliot hated that feeling. He felt it when they all split up. When they tried to go back to what they all were before. Solitary soldiers, thieves, hackers and grifters. In the end, they’d all come back to Nate. Nate was their core, their center, their go-to guy. They needed him. He kept them together. Kept them calm. Kept them focused.
It was the first feeling of a family that Eliot had experienced in a long time. And that guy... that cop... had almost taken that all away.
Eliot was the guy who should be taking the shots. He was used to it. He’d take his chances. But Nate... if anything happened to him, they’d be done. Just like they’d been the first time he left. If this group, this family, that Eliot had come to appreciate had to breakup, had to dissolve for good... it was going to be their choice. A vote, a survey, whatever. When the time came, they’d put in their two cents and make the decision. They would choose.
Nobody was going to take that away from them. Nobody was going to take Nate out. Nobody was going to take any of them out. Not Parker, not Sophie, and not Hardison. Because despite his lone world attitude, he’d come to appreciate each of them (some more begrudgingly than others) in their own way. He even kind of liked them, liked their group. So if anyone wanted to take them out, then he’d have something to say about it.
They’d have to go through him.
And they didn’t want to go through him.
Show: Leverage
Word Count: 563
Pairing/Characters: Eliot, Eliot/Nate friendship implied
Summary: I was really struck by the scene in the finale (The Lost Heir Job) where Nate is almost shot by the crooked cop. The way Eliot shouted Nate's name (and blowing his cover in the process) showed how concerned he was. Which, considering it's Eliot, is rarity to see on the show. So this story came from that. Post-episode, Eliot is wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gotten there in time. What did Nate mean to them?
Eliot was angry. Jaw clenched, he showed no mercy to his punching bag, fist connecting hard with the weighted leather again and again.
Usually, his bag was a method of release. Picturing faces, people, things that angered him on the bag, then beating the crap out of it always made him feel better. Refreshed. Relieved.
Not today. The face he was beating wasn’t going away. Even when he’d decided enough was enough and was unwrapping his hands, he still saw him. He rubbed his hands, trying to get rid of the numbness settling in his knuckles. Still felt the grit on his hands from launching the rock. Still felt the cold steel of the gun in his hands. Still felt the rage coursing through him.
Stretching, he winced and carefully massaged the muscle in his shoulder. He wasn’t surprised that it hurt. When you threw somebody over your shoulder, it was practically expected.
Sure as hell didn’t make it hurt any less though.
He thought again about what happened. What is Nate hadn’t told him to act as backup? What if he’d been late? After all, he damn near was.
When he threw the rock to buy himself time, what if he’d missed?
He sighed and collapsed on the couch with a groan. Nate had no idea how lucky he was. Guys armed with guns like that... those kind of guys rarely missed. Nate had been lucky. They all had.
He remembered the last time Nate had been in that kind of a situation. He and Soph had been trapped in the bank. Connection cut off. He remembered how helpless him and Hardison and Parker had been. It had worked out in the end, sure. But not for that moment. For that moment, they were lost.
Eliot hated that feeling. He felt it when they all split up. When they tried to go back to what they all were before. Solitary soldiers, thieves, hackers and grifters. In the end, they’d all come back to Nate. Nate was their core, their center, their go-to guy. They needed him. He kept them together. Kept them calm. Kept them focused.
It was the first feeling of a family that Eliot had experienced in a long time. And that guy... that cop... had almost taken that all away.
Eliot was the guy who should be taking the shots. He was used to it. He’d take his chances. But Nate... if anything happened to him, they’d be done. Just like they’d been the first time he left. If this group, this family, that Eliot had come to appreciate had to breakup, had to dissolve for good... it was going to be their choice. A vote, a survey, whatever. When the time came, they’d put in their two cents and make the decision. They would choose.
Nobody was going to take that away from them. Nobody was going to take Nate out. Nobody was going to take any of them out. Not Parker, not Sophie, and not Hardison. Because despite his lone world attitude, he’d come to appreciate each of them (some more begrudgingly than others) in their own way. He even kind of liked them, liked their group. So if anyone wanted to take them out, then he’d have something to say about it.
They’d have to go through him.
And they didn’t want to go through him.