Face Value (Part 2 /3)
elebridith
Fandom: A:tS/Leverage crossover.
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison, Nathan Ford; cameo by Lilah Morgan.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No one, nothing. Just playing.
Summary: "With all five thugs lying on the ground, the black-dressed man turned around and the camera caught his face. Lindsey's jaw dropped. "Holy shit!""
Rating: PG-13? Some swearwords.
Part One and Two beta'd by
luminous_mortal . Thanks, hun!! *huggles*
A/N: Part One happens during A:tS' "Dead End" - Lindsey has his new hand already, but has not discovered its "evilness" yet. Team Leverage is set in Chicago and has already worked together for some time. It goes AU after that.
Chicago Interludes
Two weeks later
"What do you mean, 'disappeared'?"
Alec Hardison sighed. "As in 'gone', Eliot. Not listed as a citizen of L.A. anymore, last appearance somewhere around Nepal. Then - zero."
Eliot frowned. "Talk about fast exits here. And that law firm?"
"Still active and running. And man, they're really creepy."
Nathan Ford interrupted. "Still, they threatened us. We should keep an eye on them, just in case."
Alec shrugged. "As you wish, boss."
***
Six months later
"Status on Wolfram and Hart?"
"Still doing creepy business, boss. But nothing pointing at us."
"Good. And stop calling me boss."
***
Another year later
"Ummm, folks? Remember I said 'creepy' earlier? Scratch that and make it just 'disturbing'. You wanna see 'creepy'?"
Alec pointed at his computer screen.
Nathan's jaw dropped and Eliot's eyes widened. "Holy fuck - is that..."
Alec nodded. "Yup. Raining fire and stones. And the sun is blacked out. Looks like the goddamn apocalypse. I bet it sucks being an L.A. citizen these days..."
***
Altogether roughly three years later
"Hey, Eliot? Remember that twin of yours?"
Eliot glared daggers at him, but decided not to comment. Alec chuckled, patted his computer lovingly and went on.
"My doggie here has learned a few new tricks - and guess who's back in town!"
Eliot looked at the monitor. "Lindsey McDonald. I'll be damned. How did you find him just now?"
Alec grinned proudly. "I got into Wolfram and Hart's mainframe computer. Apparently they have a new CEO, and some of the files aren't heavily guarded anymore. Including ex-employees. He was listed as "missing, but still in contract" and now he's marked as "really pissed us off", so to say. And here's an address."
Eliot stared at the screen, frowning. "Wait a second. Not to question your computer skills, but - you got into those files just like that? Just in his or can you access others also?"
Alec gave him a questioning look and went back to his keyboard. Minutes later he looked up. "I have some others, but - yeah, it's interesting. The ones you can access quite easily are the ones about the, well, let's call them Potential Threats. People who screwed with the firm one way or the other."
Eliot's face went hard. "And they give every hacker looking for them practically directions to their current whereabouts. Right?"
Alec's eyes widened. "They hope someone will do the dirty work for them!"
Eliot nodded, jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, thoughts racing. A death list. I wonder what he did to get marked. He could be dead in a few days. Could be dead now. He shuddered. I really don't like that idea. Sure, he's an arrogant little bastard, but… does he deserve that? His lips curled into a sarcastic smile. Or it's just too close to home. Getting superstitious here, Eliot?
He made his decision and abruptly stood up. "I'll get him out of there."
Alec blinked. "Whoa, whoa, easy, man, he's a bad guy, remember?"
Eliot snorted. "So are we, Hardison, if you remember. And now he's on the same list as we are, maybe. As an enemy. And that's a story I really would like to hear."
He made his way to the door. "Nathan? Need to talk to you!"
Part Two
Chicago, Team Leverage
Nathan Ford stared at his team mate, not quite believing his ears. "You wanna do what?"
Eliot looked determined, even a little stubborn. "I'm gonna get Lindsey McDonald out of Los Angeles. And for the record, I was not that much asking as… stating a fact."
Nathan huffed out a laugh. "Thought so. Just…why, Eliot? Yes, he's probably not on their side anymore, but did you forget the threats?"
Eliot shook his head. "No. But I think he's on a death list now, and from all I know about this firm, it's not gonna be pretty. Or fast. I just don't believe he deserves that. And…"
His voice trailed off and he looked away. He looks like me. I don't like someone dead who looks like me.
Nathan studied him for a moment and then asked softly: "And what?"
Eliot looked back at him, calm again. "Nothing. I'll leave for L.A. tomorrow. Ok?"
Nathan looked worried for a moment and sighed. "Ok. I still don't like it, but nothing's up here currently, at least nothing the others can't handle. And it won't hurt to have an insider. Just… be careful."
That last sentence took Eliot a bit by surprise, but he didn't say anything, just began packing his bag.
Alec watched him a few seconds, and then threw a questioning glance at Nathan. As he received a nod, he stood up. "Coming with you, Eliot."
That earned him a sharp look. "No, you don't. This is my business."
Alec crossed his arms. "Uh-huh. And what if you - which is very likely - need another access to his files? Think I'll let you borrow my laptop? Or tell you my hacker secrets? No way, boy. Besides - " he directed a wide cheerful grin at the other man - "if there really are monsters, I wanna see them."
Eliot closed his eyes. "That's why I still prefer to work alone", he muttered under his breath.
He opened his eyes again. "You won't back off now if I tell you to, right?"
Alec grinned even wider and Eliot resigned. "So be it. I hate you."
Alec slapped him on the shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know. When do we start?"
Eliot grinned inwardly. "Tomorrow morning, three thirty."
Alec's face fell into an aghast look. He opened his mouth to protest, but Eliot did his sweetest smile which was maybe just a little bit smug.
"It's a long way. I don't like depending on flight schedules, so we take the car. Don't wanna waste time, do we? See you at my car. Be on time or I'll go without you."
***
Los Angeles
"Stop here. The address in the files is over there."
Eliot brought his car to a halt. He stared at the house for a moment, not saying anything. Alec eyed him curiously. "So what now? You're gonna get in there and kidnap him? Or do you try the talking thing for a change?"
Eliot slowly shook his head. "Not sure, really. Guess I'm telling him about the files and if he doesn't get it, yeah, maybe I just knock him out." He let out a short laugh that sounded unusually nervous. "This city? Gives me the creeps."
Alec looked at him and tried to laugh it off, but couldn't. A nervous Eliot Spencer wasn't something he saw very often, and he preferred not to remember the last two times he did. He looked up and startled. "Eliot. There. He's leaving." He narrowed his eyes. "Is that a sword he's carrying?"
Eliot got up. "Let's follow him. Maybe we'll get a chance."
***
"That guy's strange." Alec frowned and shook his binocular as if he could re-adjust it somehow. "I know there's not much light and all, but I could swear his skin is - green."
Eliot gave him an Are-you-fucking-crazy?-look and snatched the glass from him. He tried to get a good look at the guy next to Lindsey McDonald, who just at this moment decided to take off his hat. Eliot nearly dropped the glass. "What the fuck..."
He raised it again, stared for some more seconds and handed the glass over to Alec. "Look. And please tell me you see it too."
Alec's jaw fell. He choked on his words. "Wha... huh... HORNS??"
Eliot looked rather relieved. "Yeah. Red ones. And green skin. So I'm not hallucinating. Good." He eyed the two guys again without the glass and frowned. "Something's... odd."
Alec dropped the glass and stared at his team mate. "Definitely." His voice was a little high-pitched, which would normally have induced some snarky comment from Eliot, but he didn't even seem to notice. Alec coughed. "Horns. Green. Odd. Well thank you for pointing it out!"
Eliot gave him an impatient look. "That's not what I mean. The green guy? He's up to something. And it's not good. He's all nervous and such. See?"
Alec shrugged. "You're the body language reader here, so if you think - whoa!"
He pointed at the odd pair and they both stared wide-eyed at the sight of Lindsey McDonald kicking down a door, sword already in hand. Man and green-skin-red-horns-person went inside and Eliot started to move. "Let's go. I wanna see what he's up to."
They glimpsed into the room where Lindsey just stabbed some creature onto a door which crashed down in the process and then moved in the next room, followed by Green Guy.
Alec got a good view of the corpse and decided immediately for the sake of his sanity not to look again. Eliot grinned as he saw his team mate's face pale visibly. "You were the one who wanted to see monsters, remember?" he whispered. Alec resisted the urge to kick him in the shins and tried to regain some composure.
Eliot barely threw a second glance at the body and slipped into combat mode, all senses alert. He went towards the opening where the door had been and crouched down next to it to get out of sight. Alec followed, peeked inside and wished he hadn't. Those creatures were... just wrong. He tried to ignore them and concentrated on the human instead.
Lindsey McDonald had dropped the clean-cut lawyer look - his hair was noticeably longer and he wore a slightly scruffy outfit. Even more surprising was his sword mastery - he moved swiftly through the hooded creatures with an efficiency that reminded Alec strongly of the fighting skills the man next to him displayed so often.
"You sure he needs our help? He seems to handle himself very well!"
Eliot didn't seem to hear the whispered words. He focused on the green-skinned guy who watched the fight nervously, at one time suddenly singing a tune ending in an extremely high-pitched note which caused the last two of the creatures to writhe in pain. Lindsey gave the guy an appreciative nod, brought his sword down and the battle was over.
Lindsey and the green guy exchanged a few words Eliot could not quite understand, but one thing was clear: the fight was over, Lindsey was now relaxed and satisfied with his work while the green guy looked visibly sick, a little regretful and even more nervous than before. Eliot tensed, scanned the guy's demeanor again, saw the little hand movement towards his pocket and knew.
He heard the guy say "It's not about what I think," while he got up and quickly moved a few steps back. He heard Alec hiss "Eliot!", but he was already in motion - three quick steps, jumping up, grabbing the doorframe, and while he could see the green guy raising a gun he vaulted into the room, feet forward, knocking Lindsey off his feet and almost out of the line of fire.
Lindsey never saw it coming. In one second, he was at gunpoint, in the next a hard impact sent him flying. A sharp hot pain blistered over his right arm, then his head collided with the wall and everything faded to black.
Eliot landed flat on the floor as well, but was fast on his feet again. He whirled around to face the green guy who had fired the gun two more times merely by reflex, but had not hit anything but the wall. Eliot met his eyes and saw shock in them. He straightened.
"Just - don't." His voice was calm and carried only a very small hint of menace. Green Guy dropped the weapon and stared at him in utter amazement, then stepped back and lifted his hands in defeat.
"I'm sorry, Lindsey. I'm so sorry." His voice was rough and pained. He stepped further back and as Eliot didn't follow, turned around and fled, nearly knocking Alec over on his way out.
Alec looked after him. "Shall I go get him?"
Eliot shook his head. "No. Let him go. He won't try anything else." He turned around and knelt beside Lindsey's limp body to check the pulse.
He let out a relieved sigh. "He's ok. His head will hurt like a bitch for a few days and we have to patch up his arm, but he's ok. Help me with him, will ya?" He ripped a piece of cloth from Lindsey's shirt and bandaged the arm wound.
Alec made the mistake to look around the room and gulped heavily as his stomach turned at the sight of the slaughter. He closed his eyes and shuddered, suddenly feeling dizzy.
Eliot looked up, actually concerned. "You all right?"
Alec shook his head. "No, not really. Remind me some time not to wish for anything monster-like again, ok?" He reached for Lindsey's legs while Eliot lifted the upper torso in a practiced grip. They carried the still unconscious man to the car and moved him into the backseat. Alec brought him in a more comfortable position while Eliot went in again and retrieved Lindsey's sword. As he got back to the driver's door, he felt raindrops on his face. He casually looked up to the sky and froze. "Hardison! Hurry! We've got to leave, NOW!"
Alec crawled backwards out of the car and frowned. "Cool it, man, why so busy now?"
Eliot pointed to the sky. Alec glanced upwards and gaped. "Oh shit. Hit the road, man, and I really don't mind speeding now. I'll even pay the ticket…"
The rain fell heavy now. The sky was dark with thick clouds which whirled in very unnatural movements and grew stranger in color every second. Thunder was rolling in the distance and then the first lightning ripped the sky. The two men jumped in the car, Eliot started it and stepped on the pedal. Tires screeched and then they were on their way, fleeing the City of Angels.
***
Half an hour later. They had escaped the city limits without incident and both were relieved to see that the sky looked normal again.
A moaning sound came from the backseat. Lindsey stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, reached for the back of his head and moaned again as his fingers found the bruise. Then he seemed to remember. His eyes flew wide open and he tried to sit up.
"What the fuck…"
The movement proved to be too fast. Lindsey drew a sharp breath and pressed his hands to his temples. "Ouch. Shit." He closed his eyes again for a moment and took deep breaths.
Alec turned to him. "Easy, lawyer, easy. You got quite a blow on the head, so just move slowly, ok? Water?"
Lindsey nodded and took the offered bottle. After a few sips his gaze cleared. He took a closer look at his companions and caught Eliot's look in the rear mirror. His eyes widened again. "I don't believe it. You??"
Eliot just grinned. Alec chuckled. "Team Hardison/Spencer to the rescue, at your service, sir."
Lindsey shook his head and winced as that action gave him another wave of nausea. He took another swig from the water bottle.
"What… what happened? I took out the Sahrvins and was just… oh God." He dropped the bottle and his face went white with shock. He gasped for air.
Alec quickly turned around again and slapped him in the face. "Hey, lawyer, don't faint!"
Lindsey inhaled slowly and tried to control his shaking hands. His voice was still uneasy.
"He… he wanted to shoot me. He said… Angel, you goddamn fucking bastard!" Anger took over now and erased the uneasiness.
"I think we need to talk. Let's get off the road." Eliot looked ahead, searched the area and took the next opportunity for a stop. He switched off the engine and turned around.
"I'd really like to hear your story, you know. But first - how's your head? Need some painkillers?"
Lindsey blinked. "No, thanks. I've had worse, I'll be ok."
Eliot examined his face closer and nodded. "Just say something if it gets worse and don't just throw up on the backseat, ok?"
Lindsey nodded and now looked directly in Eliot's eyes. "How did you find me? And - I'm grateful, really, but why? Why rescue me? We didn't exactly part as friends three years ago!"
Eliot returned the look. "Hardison found you. You could say your firm offered you up on a silver platter. And why?" He gave Lindsey a wide smile. "You know - I really would hate to see a body in the morgue that has a face that looks like mine."
Lindsey stared at him, opened his mouth and closed it again. A flash of shame went across his face and he lowered his gaze.
Eliot gave him a moment and then continued. "So - green guy? With horns?"
Lindsey coughed and took another sip of water. "Long story. To cut it short - there's an apocalypse coming. Angel was named one of the good guys and I - " He let out a bitter laugh. "I wanted to help. For once in my life, I wanted to be on the right side. Still didn't like him, yeah, but I wanted to sort that out later if we both survived." He fell silent.
Alec frowned and then looked angry. "And he tried to shoot you."
Lindsey looked up, confused, and then smiled involuntarily. "Not quite right. That green guy, you mean? That's not Angel, that was one of his gang. Angel is - was - whatever - the CEO of Wolfram and Hart. A souled vampire, by the way. Not someone who gives people like me the honor of being killed personally, as it turns out. Never trusted me, and…"
He made a disgusted sound. "He really had no reason to, to be fair. Except this time, I really…"
Lindsey's voice trailed off and he closed his eyes. Alec looked fazed and mouthed "Vampire…?" to himself, then shuddered. Eliot just blinked.
"Right. Longer version of this later, ok? So - what do you wanna do now?"
Lindsey snorted. "If I want to continue my noble path to redemption, I should go back, face the music and get myself killed in the apocalypse. If I'm lucky, I take some bad guys with me."
Eliot gave him a wry look. "More likely, you'll die from a stab in the back if this Angel guy sees that you're still alive. Your choice. I'll turn the car around if you want to…"
Lindsey twisted his lips into a grim smile. "What other choice do I have? Any idea?"
Alec and Eliot exchanged a look, and then both men grinned.
"You tell him, Hardison." Eliot started the car again and got back on the road.
Alec gave Lindsey his widest smile.
"You know - there's this bunch of really weird guys and gals. Basically bad guys doing Robin Hood stuff for kicks. Doing justice by breaking the law and all that shit. You, boy…" He tilted his head and eyed Lindsey up and down. "A sword master, and since you were a lawyer, smart, I hope - you would just fit right in."
He smirked. "Say, Lindsey - how would you like Chicago?"
Part Three is
here.