leverage fic: falling (parker, sophie gen)
Title: Falling
Rating: teen
Notes: Parker and Sophie gen. Missing scene for 'The First David Job'. 1039 words.
There's no point being scared because, see, the braking mechanism will either kick in or it won't, the rig will hold tight to the side of the building or it won't. You may as well enjoy the ride. And you do, it's definitely the most fun you've had all day.
And it's been a pretty busy day, all things considered.
But seeing as this is Sophie's getaway plan, and knowing by now exactly how handy the woman isn't with a set of tools, it's even more of a rush than usual. And this is already just about one of your most favourite things to do, so that's saying something.
The free-fall lasts about four seconds before the gears start to work and you tighten your arms around Sophie as gravity pulls at you both like you weigh a million pounds. You decelerate, but not quite enough; Sophie's First Rig and all, and you're still going just a little too fast when the pavement rushes up to meet you.
Or, in other words, it's a long way down, and then you hit the ground.
-
You end up sprawled on the sidewalk in a tangle of arms and legs and Sophie, and somehow the line is wrapped under your back and someone's hair is in your mouth. Gross.
"Are you all right?" Sophie says as she starts to pick herself up.
"Are you?"
"No," she continues, out of breath, "I mean, Sterling - did he do anything to you?"
"He caught me."
You're already on your feet and you grab Sophie and unhook her from the line. The harness buckles are quick-release, and you get those undone, too, while she stands still and lets you. The harness falls there on the street, and then you run. The running continues for a block and a half, then Sophie stops at a car. You look back and don't see anyone coming after you, yet.
"So what happened? Sterling was waiting for me in the armoured van, it was creepy, and I don't know what went wrong. I think he tried to tell me stuff but every time he talked to me I put my fingers in my ears and sang that song Eliot sings sometimes and then you all get annoyed? The one with the sad cowboys. Then everyone got really annoyed."
Sophie pauses on her way round the car and doesn't look at you. "I'll drive," she says.
A cell phone rings a few streets away, and Sophie pulls it from her hip pocket. She answers it with the words, "We're away." Then she listens, and she lets out a breath, and she says, "Good. We'll be there." Then she tosses the phone in the back. "The others are okay, we're going to meet up with them now."
She brakes at a set of lights, and she reaches over to turn on the AC.
You stare at the side of her head and say, "Sophie, what the hell?"
-
Five minutes later, Sophie has stopped talking, and she's the one who keeps stealing glances your way, which isn't a safe driving practice. You're supposed to keep your eyes on the road. Hands at ten and two.
You say, "You stole the other statue from the Vatican ten years ago?"
Sophie nods. "Yeah."
"Sweet."
"Thanks."
"I've never robbed the Vatican."
"Oh, haven't you?"
"It's not like I couldn't, I just haven't gotten around to it." Frowning, you pull your feet up on the seat and wrap your arms around your knees. "Was Nate mad?"
Another set of traffic lights, and Sophie sort of laughs and looks over at you again. "Yeah, Nate was mad."
-
Sophie's looking for somewhere to park.
You wish you'd been there to watch the offices explode. You helped Hardison design the system of charges months ago; it's always nice to see a plan come to fruition.
"So Sterling used you to get to us," you say, squinting in the glare of the late-afternoon sun. "Evil Nate is evil."
Sophie screws up the first attempt at parallel parking. The tire hits the curb, her angles all wrong. Wordlessly, she pulls back out, and when she tries again, goes in smooth. She stops the engine. "He was the one factor I didn't consider. This, um, this wasn't the way it was supposed to turn out."
"Well, yeah. I mean, they have both our little men. They started out with one, and now they have two."
"I know."
"And Nate didn't get to screw over his old boss. And now they know all of us are here and where we work and what we've been doing."
"Yeah."
"Which means we can't do anything about it. We have to leave."
There's a tight feeling in your chest and for a moment it hurts to breathe. Sophie reaches out like she's going to touch you and then there's a hand on your shoulder, warm through your shirt. You're going to miss Sophie, you decide, this whole touchy-feely thing aside. This thing she does like it's easy. Though, to be honest, you were almost getting used to it.
-
Out of the car, then. You walk to meet the guys with quick steps, Sophie at your side. You don't really know what's going to happen next, and you don't really know how to say goodbye. You think Sophie would know, but you're not going to ask. She might hug you.
And you're already thinking several steps ahead, anyway, thinking about the Mexican border, about disappearing again. You have absolutely nowhere to go, but you're going to get there fast.
Because that's what you know. There's no reason to be scared.
Rating: teen
Notes: Parker and Sophie gen. Missing scene for 'The First David Job'. 1039 words.
There's no point being scared because, see, the braking mechanism will either kick in or it won't, the rig will hold tight to the side of the building or it won't. You may as well enjoy the ride. And you do, it's definitely the most fun you've had all day.
And it's been a pretty busy day, all things considered.
But seeing as this is Sophie's getaway plan, and knowing by now exactly how handy the woman isn't with a set of tools, it's even more of a rush than usual. And this is already just about one of your most favourite things to do, so that's saying something.
The free-fall lasts about four seconds before the gears start to work and you tighten your arms around Sophie as gravity pulls at you both like you weigh a million pounds. You decelerate, but not quite enough; Sophie's First Rig and all, and you're still going just a little too fast when the pavement rushes up to meet you.
Or, in other words, it's a long way down, and then you hit the ground.
-
You end up sprawled on the sidewalk in a tangle of arms and legs and Sophie, and somehow the line is wrapped under your back and someone's hair is in your mouth. Gross.
"Are you all right?" Sophie says as she starts to pick herself up.
"Are you?"
"No," she continues, out of breath, "I mean, Sterling - did he do anything to you?"
"He caught me."
You're already on your feet and you grab Sophie and unhook her from the line. The harness buckles are quick-release, and you get those undone, too, while she stands still and lets you. The harness falls there on the street, and then you run. The running continues for a block and a half, then Sophie stops at a car. You look back and don't see anyone coming after you, yet.
"So what happened? Sterling was waiting for me in the armoured van, it was creepy, and I don't know what went wrong. I think he tried to tell me stuff but every time he talked to me I put my fingers in my ears and sang that song Eliot sings sometimes and then you all get annoyed? The one with the sad cowboys. Then everyone got really annoyed."
Sophie pauses on her way round the car and doesn't look at you. "I'll drive," she says.
A cell phone rings a few streets away, and Sophie pulls it from her hip pocket. She answers it with the words, "We're away." Then she listens, and she lets out a breath, and she says, "Good. We'll be there." Then she tosses the phone in the back. "The others are okay, we're going to meet up with them now."
She brakes at a set of lights, and she reaches over to turn on the AC.
You stare at the side of her head and say, "Sophie, what the hell?"
-
Five minutes later, Sophie has stopped talking, and she's the one who keeps stealing glances your way, which isn't a safe driving practice. You're supposed to keep your eyes on the road. Hands at ten and two.
You say, "You stole the other statue from the Vatican ten years ago?"
Sophie nods. "Yeah."
"Sweet."
"Thanks."
"I've never robbed the Vatican."
"Oh, haven't you?"
"It's not like I couldn't, I just haven't gotten around to it." Frowning, you pull your feet up on the seat and wrap your arms around your knees. "Was Nate mad?"
Another set of traffic lights, and Sophie sort of laughs and looks over at you again. "Yeah, Nate was mad."
-
Sophie's looking for somewhere to park.
You wish you'd been there to watch the offices explode. You helped Hardison design the system of charges months ago; it's always nice to see a plan come to fruition.
"So Sterling used you to get to us," you say, squinting in the glare of the late-afternoon sun. "Evil Nate is evil."
Sophie screws up the first attempt at parallel parking. The tire hits the curb, her angles all wrong. Wordlessly, she pulls back out, and when she tries again, goes in smooth. She stops the engine. "He was the one factor I didn't consider. This, um, this wasn't the way it was supposed to turn out."
"Well, yeah. I mean, they have both our little men. They started out with one, and now they have two."
"I know."
"And Nate didn't get to screw over his old boss. And now they know all of us are here and where we work and what we've been doing."
"Yeah."
"Which means we can't do anything about it. We have to leave."
There's a tight feeling in your chest and for a moment it hurts to breathe. Sophie reaches out like she's going to touch you and then there's a hand on your shoulder, warm through your shirt. You're going to miss Sophie, you decide, this whole touchy-feely thing aside. This thing she does like it's easy. Though, to be honest, you were almost getting used to it.
-
Out of the car, then. You walk to meet the guys with quick steps, Sophie at your side. You don't really know what's going to happen next, and you don't really know how to say goodbye. You think Sophie would know, but you're not going to ask. She might hug you.
And you're already thinking several steps ahead, anyway, thinking about the Mexican border, about disappearing again. You have absolutely nowhere to go, but you're going to get there fast.
Because that's what you know. There's no reason to be scared.