Leverage/Drive fic: The Miles Keep Burning
Title: The Miles Keep Burning
Fandom/Character: (What's been crossed with Leverage) Drive (TV show) (Riley Smith was a main character as was Charles Martin Smith who managed to be in Leverage for longer than a minute *grins*)
Word count: 1679, I think! (over 1600 anyway)
Warnings (if any): Much like the show I'm crossing with, the ending is unresolved... (why do all the shows I love end WAY too soon?!)
It's too quiet. It's the first thing Eliot notices and it triggers an automatic response in him. He lets the door close behind him and glances quickly at the alarm panel - no alerts, no sign that anything's wrong. He doesn't call out, there's no point, as good a thief as she is Parker is completely incapable of being silent when she's at home someplace, and as for Hardison? Yeah, they're not here. That much is obvious. Or at least, not capable of making noise...
At that thought, Eliot scans the open-plan area quickly and confirms his suspicions - there's no one there, nor are they in the private office Hardison has converted into a hi-tech workroom. He carefully goes through to the restaurant floor and stops short at the sight of the front door sitting ajar. They're closed for renovations (Hardison was never getting back into Eliot's kitchen again, no matter how much he begged) and there's no way that door should be open.
He looks around, taking in everything, and then his heart leaps into his throat. Broken glass. Behind the bar. He vaults the table between him and there and skids to a stop when he sees her, facedown, on the floor. "Parker!" he keeps his voice low, trying not to attract the attention of her attackers - and how he hopes they're still here... She stirs and he closes his eyes for a second in relief.
"Hey," he says. "You're okay. You'll be okay. What happened?"
She pushes herself up until she's sitting with her back to the counter and clutches at her head - Eliot can see a bruise already purpling where she'd been hit - and winces. "They took him, Eliot. They got Alec."
He rocks back onto his heels. "Who?"
She shakes her head, "I don't know. They just-" A shrill ringing stops her and they both look around wildly. "What the hell? Is that yours?"
Eliot shakes his head, "Nope. Yours?" Parker's just as clueless and in a moment they're on their feet searching for the source. They find it in the register - a simple, slightly old-fashioned black cell phone with the words "Unknown Caller" showing on the display. Parker puts it on speaker so they can both listen in and says "Hello?"
"Listen closely, I'm about to make you an offer. One that could change your life. But you must follow instructions to the letter, or risk losing this opportunity. You'll not have to time to consider, you'll not have time to think. Only to act. Because action now is what is required. In the next fifteen minutes you must be in your car and on the road. You will drive to Key West, Florida. It is essential that you drive. You may not fly, you may not take a train. You must arrive in a vehicle. You're going to the Wayfarer Hotel. Proceed directly to the Pont Sedeleon Ballroom. Only there, will you find the answers you seek. The moment of decision is upon you. If you're not on the road in the next fifteen minutes, we'll know. If you contact anyone, we will know. If you go to the police, we will know. And you'll never hear from us again. Did you get all that?"
"Who the hell are you?" Eliot asks.
"Ah, Mr Spencer, I was hoping you would arrive. All the answers you seek can be found in Florida. I would suggest you get on the road. You have a long drive ahead of you after all."
"Where is he? Where's Hardison?"
"You're wasting valuable time, Mr Spencer, Miss... Parker. And it's not just your own time you're wasting, now is it?"
The mysterious caller promptly hangs up and they stare at each other in horror for a minute before Parker's expression becomes resolved.
"We'll take your Challenger," she says. "It'll be faster."
They spend the first few hours of the drive in silence, both of them contemplating the enormity of the challenge in front of them. Portland to Key West in less than two days would take driving non-stop apart from fuel and breaking more than a few speed restrictions. Doable, but the prospect of a fight to find Hardison at the other end of the trip was a daunting one. Eliot takes the first spell at driving while Parker tries to get as much information from the strange phone as she can. She discovers pretty quickly that there's no way to return the call they'd received and the number seemed to be completely unrecognizable to the tracker programs installed on her own smart phone (which, what with Hardison's input, is definitely smarter than the average smart phone). She opens the back of the casing and immediately spots the tracking chip. "Hey, look at this," she says. "How come they didn't just use a normal GPS tracker?"
Eliot glances over and frowns. "Maybe they know we can spoof GPS. They probably have some kinda code built into that thing that can't be tricked."
"So do we keep it or not?"
Eliot thinks for a while. The idea of someone - anyone - being able to track him has always made his skin crawl. It's been the reason he stayed a luddite, in Hardison's words, it wasn't that he hated the tech, he just knew how easy it was to hijack and that was something he couldn't control. Getting rid of the tracker chip was tempting, it would let them sneak up on Hardison's captors unannounced. On the other hand, Eliot was no fool. The chances of some conference room in a hotel being the final stop of this trip were negligible and they would need as much information about who they were up against if they were to get on top of the situation.
"Keep it," he said. "For now."
Parker's in the driver's seat when they finally get to Key West and she has to shake Eliot awake as she pulls into the turning circle at the hotel entrance. He does that thing she's always been jealous of and goes from dead asleep to wide awake in the blink of an eye and is through the front door into the lobby before the valet has taken the key from her. She catches up quickly since he's stopped to find his bearings. The lobby's insanely busy and she takes a moment to note that half of the people seem to be in a major rush to leave. Not a good sign, especially since the muted panic she can see on some of their faces is a pale reflection of her own.
Like all hotels the signposts to the various ballrooms and conference suites are artfully blended into the decor making it all but impossible to find anything. Finally they spot it together and speed off in the direction indicated without a word. There's another sign on a stand outside the door that Parker is all set to ignore until she hears Eliot draw in a sharp breath.
"What?" She spins and takes a closer look. Bright Properties: Real Estate Conference In Progress Okay, not the most scintillating of prospects but it's obviously a cover and not something she would have though could elicit the expression on his face. "Eliot? What is it, what's wrong?"
He shakes his head as if to clear it and pulls the door open without answering. Parker frowns and follows him into the nearly empty ballroom. There are plenty seats laid out in rows but they're all empty, probably those people in such a hurry out in the lobby had been sitting in them just a few minutes ago she reasons.
"You're late." She matches the voice to the person who phoned them back in the brew pub and starts forward to the small, unassuming man latching up a satchel at the speaker's podium. He holds his hands up as if to stop her and continues, "In the past this would count against you, since you've clearly missed orientation. However, after a previous incident in which the competitor was... impolite, shall we say," he shudders at this and she notes the almost fearful glance he casts at Eliot who is standing right up close and clearly about a heartbeat from hitting him, "I'm happy to provide you with a short summation."
"Cut the crap," Eliot snarls and even Parker is surprised at the venom in his tone. "Where's the first checkpoint?"
"Huh?" Parker and the small satchel man ay in unison, both looking equally puzzled.
"Eliot? What?" she continues, but stops as his glare doesn't leave the man's face. Clearly he knows what's going on here and will tell her as soon as he can. For now they need to get as much out of the little guy as they can. For Hardison's sake.
"Well, Mr Spencer, you are just full of surprises aren't you?" She's impressed that the guy manages to keep any tremor out of his tone, what with Eliot glowering at him like that and all. "I know for a fact we've never encountered you before and as far as I am aware you've never been involved in our little diversion in the past. I'm sure there's a fascinating story behind this, however as you seem to be aware of the situation I am happily spared the need to explain further. In a moment your phone will ring. I suggest for your colleague's sake you follow the instructions you will receive to the letter. May I take it you will enlighten your charming companion?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just picks up his satchel and turns to leave just as the phone in Parker's hand beeps. She glances at it and sees a text message Mainland. Go. and the man turns back to them with a smile. "Good luck," he says, closing the door behind him.
"Eliot?" She touches his arm gently to get his attention and shows him the message. "We can talk in the car."
He nods and puts his hand over hers. "We'll get him back safe. I swear."
Fandom/Character: (What's been crossed with Leverage) Drive (TV show) (Riley Smith was a main character as was Charles Martin Smith who managed to be in Leverage for longer than a minute *grins*)
Word count: 1679, I think! (over 1600 anyway)
Warnings (if any): Much like the show I'm crossing with, the ending is unresolved... (why do all the shows I love end WAY too soon?!)
It's too quiet. It's the first thing Eliot notices and it triggers an automatic response in him. He lets the door close behind him and glances quickly at the alarm panel - no alerts, no sign that anything's wrong. He doesn't call out, there's no point, as good a thief as she is Parker is completely incapable of being silent when she's at home someplace, and as for Hardison? Yeah, they're not here. That much is obvious. Or at least, not capable of making noise...
At that thought, Eliot scans the open-plan area quickly and confirms his suspicions - there's no one there, nor are they in the private office Hardison has converted into a hi-tech workroom. He carefully goes through to the restaurant floor and stops short at the sight of the front door sitting ajar. They're closed for renovations (Hardison was never getting back into Eliot's kitchen again, no matter how much he begged) and there's no way that door should be open.
He looks around, taking in everything, and then his heart leaps into his throat. Broken glass. Behind the bar. He vaults the table between him and there and skids to a stop when he sees her, facedown, on the floor. "Parker!" he keeps his voice low, trying not to attract the attention of her attackers - and how he hopes they're still here... She stirs and he closes his eyes for a second in relief.
"Hey," he says. "You're okay. You'll be okay. What happened?"
She pushes herself up until she's sitting with her back to the counter and clutches at her head - Eliot can see a bruise already purpling where she'd been hit - and winces. "They took him, Eliot. They got Alec."
He rocks back onto his heels. "Who?"
She shakes her head, "I don't know. They just-" A shrill ringing stops her and they both look around wildly. "What the hell? Is that yours?"
Eliot shakes his head, "Nope. Yours?" Parker's just as clueless and in a moment they're on their feet searching for the source. They find it in the register - a simple, slightly old-fashioned black cell phone with the words "Unknown Caller" showing on the display. Parker puts it on speaker so they can both listen in and says "Hello?"
"Listen closely, I'm about to make you an offer. One that could change your life. But you must follow instructions to the letter, or risk losing this opportunity. You'll not have to time to consider, you'll not have time to think. Only to act. Because action now is what is required. In the next fifteen minutes you must be in your car and on the road. You will drive to Key West, Florida. It is essential that you drive. You may not fly, you may not take a train. You must arrive in a vehicle. You're going to the Wayfarer Hotel. Proceed directly to the Pont Sedeleon Ballroom. Only there, will you find the answers you seek. The moment of decision is upon you. If you're not on the road in the next fifteen minutes, we'll know. If you contact anyone, we will know. If you go to the police, we will know. And you'll never hear from us again. Did you get all that?"
"Who the hell are you?" Eliot asks.
"Ah, Mr Spencer, I was hoping you would arrive. All the answers you seek can be found in Florida. I would suggest you get on the road. You have a long drive ahead of you after all."
"Where is he? Where's Hardison?"
"You're wasting valuable time, Mr Spencer, Miss... Parker. And it's not just your own time you're wasting, now is it?"
The mysterious caller promptly hangs up and they stare at each other in horror for a minute before Parker's expression becomes resolved.
"We'll take your Challenger," she says. "It'll be faster."
They spend the first few hours of the drive in silence, both of them contemplating the enormity of the challenge in front of them. Portland to Key West in less than two days would take driving non-stop apart from fuel and breaking more than a few speed restrictions. Doable, but the prospect of a fight to find Hardison at the other end of the trip was a daunting one. Eliot takes the first spell at driving while Parker tries to get as much information from the strange phone as she can. She discovers pretty quickly that there's no way to return the call they'd received and the number seemed to be completely unrecognizable to the tracker programs installed on her own smart phone (which, what with Hardison's input, is definitely smarter than the average smart phone). She opens the back of the casing and immediately spots the tracking chip. "Hey, look at this," she says. "How come they didn't just use a normal GPS tracker?"
Eliot glances over and frowns. "Maybe they know we can spoof GPS. They probably have some kinda code built into that thing that can't be tricked."
"So do we keep it or not?"
Eliot thinks for a while. The idea of someone - anyone - being able to track him has always made his skin crawl. It's been the reason he stayed a luddite, in Hardison's words, it wasn't that he hated the tech, he just knew how easy it was to hijack and that was something he couldn't control. Getting rid of the tracker chip was tempting, it would let them sneak up on Hardison's captors unannounced. On the other hand, Eliot was no fool. The chances of some conference room in a hotel being the final stop of this trip were negligible and they would need as much information about who they were up against if they were to get on top of the situation.
"Keep it," he said. "For now."
Parker's in the driver's seat when they finally get to Key West and she has to shake Eliot awake as she pulls into the turning circle at the hotel entrance. He does that thing she's always been jealous of and goes from dead asleep to wide awake in the blink of an eye and is through the front door into the lobby before the valet has taken the key from her. She catches up quickly since he's stopped to find his bearings. The lobby's insanely busy and she takes a moment to note that half of the people seem to be in a major rush to leave. Not a good sign, especially since the muted panic she can see on some of their faces is a pale reflection of her own.
Like all hotels the signposts to the various ballrooms and conference suites are artfully blended into the decor making it all but impossible to find anything. Finally they spot it together and speed off in the direction indicated without a word. There's another sign on a stand outside the door that Parker is all set to ignore until she hears Eliot draw in a sharp breath.
"What?" She spins and takes a closer look. Bright Properties: Real Estate Conference In Progress Okay, not the most scintillating of prospects but it's obviously a cover and not something she would have though could elicit the expression on his face. "Eliot? What is it, what's wrong?"
He shakes his head as if to clear it and pulls the door open without answering. Parker frowns and follows him into the nearly empty ballroom. There are plenty seats laid out in rows but they're all empty, probably those people in such a hurry out in the lobby had been sitting in them just a few minutes ago she reasons.
"You're late." She matches the voice to the person who phoned them back in the brew pub and starts forward to the small, unassuming man latching up a satchel at the speaker's podium. He holds his hands up as if to stop her and continues, "In the past this would count against you, since you've clearly missed orientation. However, after a previous incident in which the competitor was... impolite, shall we say," he shudders at this and she notes the almost fearful glance he casts at Eliot who is standing right up close and clearly about a heartbeat from hitting him, "I'm happy to provide you with a short summation."
"Cut the crap," Eliot snarls and even Parker is surprised at the venom in his tone. "Where's the first checkpoint?"
"Huh?" Parker and the small satchel man ay in unison, both looking equally puzzled.
"Eliot? What?" she continues, but stops as his glare doesn't leave the man's face. Clearly he knows what's going on here and will tell her as soon as he can. For now they need to get as much out of the little guy as they can. For Hardison's sake.
"Well, Mr Spencer, you are just full of surprises aren't you?" She's impressed that the guy manages to keep any tremor out of his tone, what with Eliot glowering at him like that and all. "I know for a fact we've never encountered you before and as far as I am aware you've never been involved in our little diversion in the past. I'm sure there's a fascinating story behind this, however as you seem to be aware of the situation I am happily spared the need to explain further. In a moment your phone will ring. I suggest for your colleague's sake you follow the instructions you will receive to the letter. May I take it you will enlighten your charming companion?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just picks up his satchel and turns to leave just as the phone in Parker's hand beeps. She glances at it and sees a text message Mainland. Go. and the man turns back to them with a smile. "Good luck," he says, closing the door behind him.
"Eliot?" She touches his arm gently to get his attention and shows him the message. "We can talk in the car."
He nods and puts his hand over hers. "We'll get him back safe. I swear."