leverageland 'TV Tropin' Challenge fic
Title: It's What I Do
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Hardison/Parker
Word count: 1779
Written for leverageland's 'TV Tropin' challenge.
A man whose former employee screwed him royally; a woman who was chased for years by said man; a young man who was raised by a woman he called 'Nana' but wasn't even related to her; a young woman who blew her house up in the name of her most prized possession; a man with so many secrets he'd have to hurt you for simply thinking about them. Doesn't sound like your typical super hero. But you didn't know them. You didn't know that the man whose son died because the company he worked for wouldn't insure him, the woman who could name the ten richest bachelors in any given country off the top of her head, the young man who hacked into any given government computer system like he was checking Facebook or Twitter, the young woman who could tell you every last detail about a safe without hesitation, and the man who learned that sometimes punching a guy is necessary the hard way would one day be brought together to save people, multiple times. You wouldn't know this just by looking at them or hearing their name. You wouldn't know any of this, until one day you needed help and they were there to save you. Call them your knights in shining armor, if you will. But they would always be there for you when you need it.
---
"Hardison, can you get everything you can find on a Harold Sullivan? And call in the team," Nate asked the hacker as he settled in with his third cup of coffee of the morning. He just simply couldn't function without at least that much caffeine in his system.
"You got it, man. Hey, have you talked to Parker yet?"
"No, should I?" He gave Hardison a worried look. Just because he could start thinking about the day now that he'd had this much coffee did not mean he was ready to start the day off by talking to Parker. He loved Parker, he did, but three cups of coffee just would not get him ready for a conversation with her.
"Nah, I was just wondering if she told you we were planning on going to the movies tonight. You know, so you don't call us in. For a job. Tonight. 'Cause we'd be at the movies. Tonight." Hardison put emphasis on the last few words, making sure Nate knew not to ruin this outing like he'd ruin the last four times they tried to go out. Well, going out meant they were dating, and they were definitely not dating. Were they? They kissed a few times, sure, but that was in the moment. It's not like they had actually gone on a real date. Unless tonight was a date. Was it a date?
"I've got it, Hardison. I'll try not to ruin your and Parker's date"
"Oh, who's going on a date?" Sophie's accent filled the room with curiosity. The slight mention of romance had her excited and ready for details.
"It's not a date! It's just an....outing...Not a date." Now Hardison was getting nervous. He never got nervous over things like this. Why was he sweating? It wasn't a date!
"Fine. What does this 'outing' entail?" Sophie sat down at the work desk, resting her chin on her hand and pushing her hair out of her eyes.
"We're just going to the movies." Hardison tried to make himself look busy setting up wires and connecting things.
"Is that all? Just the movies?" Sophie smirked a little, giving Nate a look as Hardison fumbled with wires.
"Well, we might go get something to eat. I mean, we gotta eat, right? So yeah, maybe something to eat." More fumbling with wires and connecting things.
"Oh definitely! You have to take her out to eat. It's the only proper thing to do." Now the grifter was just playing with him, but the hacker was too nervous to notice.
"And you should probably take her out to get ice cream or something afterwards. So you can talk about the movie, of course." Nate caught on to the game Sophie was playing and joined in.
Hardison stopped what he was doing and thought for a second. "Yeah. Yeah ice cream. For talking." He went back to the wires and connecting.
"But it's definitely not a date. It's just a meal and entertainment followed by a location for a conversation." Sophie didn't know how much more she could take. She could con anyone into anything almost, but this was just killing her.
"Definitely not a date." Hardison agreed, not noticing he was tangling himself up in all the wires.
"Who's going on a date?" Eliot asked as he snuck in and took a seat. He'd already been up, had his usual protein smoothie and three mile run, so he was definitely up for messing with Hardison.
"It's not a date! It's a meal and a movie and some dessert. Between two friends." Hardison twisted and turned and fumbled with more wires. Were they multiplying?!
"Sounds like a date to me. I've been on dates that didn't even have a third of those things. All ended up with the same result." Eliot grinned as Hardison turned around slowly with a look of shock and disbelief on his face.
"It's not a date!" Hardison finally raised his voice enough that it echoed through the apartment, but by then the other three were doing their absolute best not to laugh. They weren't doing a very good job of that.
"Eliot's going on another date?" Parker's voice could be heard, but no one could see her.
"Not me. You and Hardison-"
"Shouldn't we start on the case information? I got everything you asked for, Nate." Hardison talked over the hitter, giving him a stern look before Parker made herself visible finally.
Stifling another laugh, Nate nodded and Hardison read the information as usual and the team loaded up for another job of grifting and stealing.
---
"Sophie, you're up," Nate said through the coms, nodding to the grifter from across the room.
She nodded back, primping herself one more time before heading out the door to meet the mark.
"Mr. Sullivan! Mr. Sullivan, can I please get a comment?" She was playing a TV reporter, something she hadn't done in a long time. A princess? Last month. CEO of a Fortune-500 company? Last week. A pop singer hugely famous in Dubai? This morning. What? It was taking her forever to get her triple grande no foam cinnamon dolce latte with caramel on the whip.
As soon as Sophie had turned Mr. Sullivan away from view, Hardison snuck into his office to do what he did best. Parker was currently breaking into his car to look for any clues, and Eliot was taking out the two security guards from the front entrance. Still. It wouldn't normally take him this long, but he was having a little fun with letting the guards think they had the lead in this particular rodeo, but soon he would show them who's boss. Nate sat in the waiting room, playing the role of Mr. Sullivan's next appointment.
"Hardison, how much longer?" Nate asked as he kept an eye on Sophie and their mark.
"Just a few more minutes. This man does not know how to update his computer. Really? Windows Vista still? Read the tech updates, man!" Hardison rambled on, even though no one was listening after his first statement. It was just a known thing.
"Uh-huh. Parker? Anything?"
"I found a couple of parking tickets and some Twizzlers wrappers. But there's really not anything else." She unlatched the center console, moving things around until she saw what she was looking for. "Oh! Bingo!"
"Yes?" Nate perked up.
"I found a set of keys!" It was like Christmas to a thief, even though picking locks was one of her favorite hobbies. But a set of keys meant a scavenger hunt, and that meant lots of goodies to look for.
"Alright, see what you can do with those." Nate stood up from his seat as Sophie finished her role for the con.
"All done, Nate. I got the files I need," Hardison announced as he packed up his things and slipped out of the office unnoticed.
"Ah, Mr. Sullivan. I'm Trevor Hatch, great to meet you." Nate started in on his character's job, and the rest of the con went smoothly from there. Eliot even got out without a mark on him, which he was both impressed and bummed about.
---
"Thank you so much, Mr. Ford. I don't know what I would have done without your team's help. Thank you, all of you." Their client stood up shook each of their hands with a smile of relief.
"It's just what we do, Miss Price. No need to thank us." Nate's voice was filled with exhaustion. He walked the client to the door, and locked up behind her.
"Drink?" Eliot asked as he poured each of them their usual.
"Not me. I'm just waiting on Parker." Hardison was fidgeting. Again. The whole ride back to the bar he was playing with the zipper on his computer bag and Eliot almost had to punch him from the annoying sound of it.
"Hardison, can you send me those files? I want to review them again," Nate asked as he downed his second shot already.
"Can it wait? I mean, she shouldn't be much longer." Hardison glanced at the back door again.
Sophie gave Nate a look, meaning 'Just let him go' without saying anything.
"Yeah, sure." Nate sighed and poured himself another.
"Ready to go?" Parker bounced back into the bar, wearing some sort of hard to put on top Sophie had bought her.
Hardison stared at the blonde, not quite sure he was looking at the same person he watched rapel down ten stories with random things she had found in a supply closet just an hour before.
"Uh. Um. Yeah! Yeah, of course. Ready to go." Hardison stood up, still staring.
"What? Am I not dressed right? I thought this was the sort of thing to wear on a date." Parker picked at her clothes, second guessing herself.
"No! I mean, yeah. Yes. You're, um, yeah." Hardison blinked and cursed himself over and over.
Parker shrugged and headed towards the door, Hardison not far behind.
"You told her it was a date, didn't you?" Eliot laughed as sat down at the bar with his own much needed beer.
"She needed something to wear! It's what I do." Sophie had nothing more to say about the subject, so she just sipped her drink.
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Hardison/Parker
Word count: 1779
Written for leverageland's 'TV Tropin' challenge.
A man whose former employee screwed him royally; a woman who was chased for years by said man; a young man who was raised by a woman he called 'Nana' but wasn't even related to her; a young woman who blew her house up in the name of her most prized possession; a man with so many secrets he'd have to hurt you for simply thinking about them. Doesn't sound like your typical super hero. But you didn't know them. You didn't know that the man whose son died because the company he worked for wouldn't insure him, the woman who could name the ten richest bachelors in any given country off the top of her head, the young man who hacked into any given government computer system like he was checking Facebook or Twitter, the young woman who could tell you every last detail about a safe without hesitation, and the man who learned that sometimes punching a guy is necessary the hard way would one day be brought together to save people, multiple times. You wouldn't know this just by looking at them or hearing their name. You wouldn't know any of this, until one day you needed help and they were there to save you. Call them your knights in shining armor, if you will. But they would always be there for you when you need it.
---
"Hardison, can you get everything you can find on a Harold Sullivan? And call in the team," Nate asked the hacker as he settled in with his third cup of coffee of the morning. He just simply couldn't function without at least that much caffeine in his system.
"You got it, man. Hey, have you talked to Parker yet?"
"No, should I?" He gave Hardison a worried look. Just because he could start thinking about the day now that he'd had this much coffee did not mean he was ready to start the day off by talking to Parker. He loved Parker, he did, but three cups of coffee just would not get him ready for a conversation with her.
"Nah, I was just wondering if she told you we were planning on going to the movies tonight. You know, so you don't call us in. For a job. Tonight. 'Cause we'd be at the movies. Tonight." Hardison put emphasis on the last few words, making sure Nate knew not to ruin this outing like he'd ruin the last four times they tried to go out. Well, going out meant they were dating, and they were definitely not dating. Were they? They kissed a few times, sure, but that was in the moment. It's not like they had actually gone on a real date. Unless tonight was a date. Was it a date?
"I've got it, Hardison. I'll try not to ruin your and Parker's date"
"Oh, who's going on a date?" Sophie's accent filled the room with curiosity. The slight mention of romance had her excited and ready for details.
"It's not a date! It's just an....outing...Not a date." Now Hardison was getting nervous. He never got nervous over things like this. Why was he sweating? It wasn't a date!
"Fine. What does this 'outing' entail?" Sophie sat down at the work desk, resting her chin on her hand and pushing her hair out of her eyes.
"We're just going to the movies." Hardison tried to make himself look busy setting up wires and connecting things.
"Is that all? Just the movies?" Sophie smirked a little, giving Nate a look as Hardison fumbled with wires.
"Well, we might go get something to eat. I mean, we gotta eat, right? So yeah, maybe something to eat." More fumbling with wires and connecting things.
"Oh definitely! You have to take her out to eat. It's the only proper thing to do." Now the grifter was just playing with him, but the hacker was too nervous to notice.
"And you should probably take her out to get ice cream or something afterwards. So you can talk about the movie, of course." Nate caught on to the game Sophie was playing and joined in.
Hardison stopped what he was doing and thought for a second. "Yeah. Yeah ice cream. For talking." He went back to the wires and connecting.
"But it's definitely not a date. It's just a meal and entertainment followed by a location for a conversation." Sophie didn't know how much more she could take. She could con anyone into anything almost, but this was just killing her.
"Definitely not a date." Hardison agreed, not noticing he was tangling himself up in all the wires.
"Who's going on a date?" Eliot asked as he snuck in and took a seat. He'd already been up, had his usual protein smoothie and three mile run, so he was definitely up for messing with Hardison.
"It's not a date! It's a meal and a movie and some dessert. Between two friends." Hardison twisted and turned and fumbled with more wires. Were they multiplying?!
"Sounds like a date to me. I've been on dates that didn't even have a third of those things. All ended up with the same result." Eliot grinned as Hardison turned around slowly with a look of shock and disbelief on his face.
"It's not a date!" Hardison finally raised his voice enough that it echoed through the apartment, but by then the other three were doing their absolute best not to laugh. They weren't doing a very good job of that.
"Eliot's going on another date?" Parker's voice could be heard, but no one could see her.
"Not me. You and Hardison-"
"Shouldn't we start on the case information? I got everything you asked for, Nate." Hardison talked over the hitter, giving him a stern look before Parker made herself visible finally.
Stifling another laugh, Nate nodded and Hardison read the information as usual and the team loaded up for another job of grifting and stealing.
---
"Sophie, you're up," Nate said through the coms, nodding to the grifter from across the room.
She nodded back, primping herself one more time before heading out the door to meet the mark.
"Mr. Sullivan! Mr. Sullivan, can I please get a comment?" She was playing a TV reporter, something she hadn't done in a long time. A princess? Last month. CEO of a Fortune-500 company? Last week. A pop singer hugely famous in Dubai? This morning. What? It was taking her forever to get her triple grande no foam cinnamon dolce latte with caramel on the whip.
As soon as Sophie had turned Mr. Sullivan away from view, Hardison snuck into his office to do what he did best. Parker was currently breaking into his car to look for any clues, and Eliot was taking out the two security guards from the front entrance. Still. It wouldn't normally take him this long, but he was having a little fun with letting the guards think they had the lead in this particular rodeo, but soon he would show them who's boss. Nate sat in the waiting room, playing the role of Mr. Sullivan's next appointment.
"Hardison, how much longer?" Nate asked as he kept an eye on Sophie and their mark.
"Just a few more minutes. This man does not know how to update his computer. Really? Windows Vista still? Read the tech updates, man!" Hardison rambled on, even though no one was listening after his first statement. It was just a known thing.
"Uh-huh. Parker? Anything?"
"I found a couple of parking tickets and some Twizzlers wrappers. But there's really not anything else." She unlatched the center console, moving things around until she saw what she was looking for. "Oh! Bingo!"
"Yes?" Nate perked up.
"I found a set of keys!" It was like Christmas to a thief, even though picking locks was one of her favorite hobbies. But a set of keys meant a scavenger hunt, and that meant lots of goodies to look for.
"Alright, see what you can do with those." Nate stood up from his seat as Sophie finished her role for the con.
"All done, Nate. I got the files I need," Hardison announced as he packed up his things and slipped out of the office unnoticed.
"Ah, Mr. Sullivan. I'm Trevor Hatch, great to meet you." Nate started in on his character's job, and the rest of the con went smoothly from there. Eliot even got out without a mark on him, which he was both impressed and bummed about.
---
"Thank you so much, Mr. Ford. I don't know what I would have done without your team's help. Thank you, all of you." Their client stood up shook each of their hands with a smile of relief.
"It's just what we do, Miss Price. No need to thank us." Nate's voice was filled with exhaustion. He walked the client to the door, and locked up behind her.
"Drink?" Eliot asked as he poured each of them their usual.
"Not me. I'm just waiting on Parker." Hardison was fidgeting. Again. The whole ride back to the bar he was playing with the zipper on his computer bag and Eliot almost had to punch him from the annoying sound of it.
"Hardison, can you send me those files? I want to review them again," Nate asked as he downed his second shot already.
"Can it wait? I mean, she shouldn't be much longer." Hardison glanced at the back door again.
Sophie gave Nate a look, meaning 'Just let him go' without saying anything.
"Yeah, sure." Nate sighed and poured himself another.
"Ready to go?" Parker bounced back into the bar, wearing some sort of hard to put on top Sophie had bought her.
Hardison stared at the blonde, not quite sure he was looking at the same person he watched rapel down ten stories with random things she had found in a supply closet just an hour before.
"Uh. Um. Yeah! Yeah, of course. Ready to go." Hardison stood up, still staring.
"What? Am I not dressed right? I thought this was the sort of thing to wear on a date." Parker picked at her clothes, second guessing herself.
"No! I mean, yeah. Yes. You're, um, yeah." Hardison blinked and cursed himself over and over.
Parker shrugged and headed towards the door, Hardison not far behind.
"You told her it was a date, didn't you?" Eliot laughed as sat down at the bar with his own much needed beer.
"She needed something to wear! It's what I do." Sophie had nothing more to say about the subject, so she just sipped her drink.