Eliot - Bet They Won't Be Expecting That
Fandom: Leverage, with crossovers with Chuck, Dark Angel, Covert Affairs, Burn Notice and Alias
Title: Bet They Won’t Be Expecting That
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison, Michael Westen, Sydney Bristow, Annie Walker, Chuck Bartowski, John Casey, Sarah Walker, Alec McDowell, mentions of Eliot/Sydney, maybe a hint of Eliot/Sarah.
5_times Claim: Table 4
xoverland Challenge: Five Point Community
tamingthemuse Prompt: Explosion
Content Warning: Spoilers possible. Crack ahoy.
Summary: Five spies that Eliot worked with once or twice.
Author’s Note: This led to a lot of aggravated Eliot, so have fun with it. None of these are directly connected to the others, really, but it could be if you chose to read it that way. Chuck is set sometime in the space between Season 2 and 3 of Leverage and in the beginning of Season 3 of Chuck. Alec and Michael are pre-series for all shows. The Annie section could feasibly be out of my Pay Your Dues series, which is mid-Season 1 for Covert Affairs and post-the summer finale for Leverage, but it can be read as a standalone. Sydney is set in early Season 4 of Alias, but pre-series for Leverage. Title is from “Invincible” by OK Go.
Disclaimer: None of it belongs to me. I’m just borrowing, and will put everything back where I found it.
“Damnit, Westen!”
Eliot pushed the rubble off his shoulders before making his way over to where the other spy was buried. Eliot didn’t know why Michael had decided that now would be a good time to set off the bomb, and was tempted to just take the intel and leave his sorry ass there. Fortunately for Michael, however, Eliot didn’t leave people behind. The dirt and dust coated his hand and made his grip slip, but he managed to get everything off him that he could, until he could see Michael’s face.
“Can you walk?”
“What?” Michael looked up at him like he couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Eliot rolled his eyes, before reaching for his hands to pull him out from under the rubble with a hard yank. He could hear the groan from the other man as he pushed himself to his feet. Michael reached for the briefcase with the intel, tucking it under his arm before turning back to him and shouting. “Did you set off the bomb?”
“Stop shouting, you jackass, you’re gonna get us caught!” Eliot snapped back. He let out a huff of a breath. “And I didn’t set it off. I thought you did.”
“Why would I-” Eliot flashed him a glare and he dropped his voice down to a more manageable tone. “Why would I set off the bomb? We weren’t even clear of the blast radius yet.”
“So you didn’t do it?”
“No. I’m not an idiot.”
Eliot thought that point was debatable, but now wasn’t the time. “If you didn’t set it off, and I didn’t set the damn thing off, then who-”
There was a cluster of voices on the other side of the rubble, shouting orders in a language that Eliot couldn’t translate over the ringing in his ears, but he was pretty sure they weren’t allies. Michael cringed slightly, not taking his eyes off the moving shadows. “I did sort of set it up as a booby trap.”
Eliot wanted to punch him, but he knew that wouldn’t exactly be productive at the moment. He grit his teeth before grabbing at the man’s arm and shoving him ahead of him. “Move.”
“Thanks, Spencer,” Michael rolled his eyes, but he did as he was told. “I’m glad you’re so concerned about my well being.”
Eliot growled a bit as he followed him, just wanting to get out of there and get home. “If we make it out of this alive, remind me to kick your ass.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
***
“I can’t believe they sent me a fucking kid to get me out of here.”
To say Eliot was annoyed was an understatement. He didn’t owe anyone enough of a favor for them to send someone after him, and he also -didn’t want to think ahead to what kind of favor this could mean to him. All he cared about at the moment was this kid was barely old enough to be sixteen and he walked into a heavily armed insurgent facility without even looking scared. At the question, the kid just shrugged, before reaching back behind him for the Beretta he had stored under his jacket, and handed it off to him.
“Me, I’d just be grateful the sent anyone at all.” After Eliot didn’t take the gun for a moment, he wiggled it in front of his face. “Here. Take it. You’re gonna need it.”
Eliot shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet. “I don’t do guns.”
He considered that for a moment, before shrugging and placing the gun back in its location at the small of his back. “Suit yourself. Let’s go.” He moved back to the doorframe, placing his back against it as he eased the door open to get a better look at what was going on outside.
“Look … ” Eliot paused for a minute as he looked over at him. “What’d you say your name was again?”
“Four-nine-four.”
Eliot was still on the train of thought of giving orders that he didn’t catch it at first, but it was enough to make him stop and look back at the kid with a glare. “That ain’t a name. I’m not gonna call you a damn number.”
There was the brief flicker of something on the kid’s face, but only brief. Barely there for a second and then gone. Eliot wasn’t sure what it meant, but the kid was sixteen and better at covering up what was going on in that oversized head of his than most agents who had been in the field twenty years. He shot Eliot a smartass smirk before shrugging.
“Fine. You can call me whatever you want. Pick a name, and I’ll roll with it.”
Eliot’s eyes narrowed at him as he continued to stare. “You want me to just pick one?”
“Sure. I’m partial to Dave, personally. Or Steve. I really like Steve.”
Eliot could feel a headache coming on. Not that he hadn’t felt one building since he gotten thrown in this craphole prison, but it was starting to get bigger as the day went on. “Great. Super. Can we focus please?”
“Focusing. Got it.” There was a beat. “Just-can you pick one? Because if I think you’re gonna call me Steve and then you call me Dave, it’s just gonna cause problems. Say a guy is looking to shoot me, or I’m about to step on a landmine, and you go ‘Hey, Dave, look out for that landmine,’ and I’ll just be going ‘Who the fuck is Dave?’ … step … click … ” Then he made noise that sounded like an explosion at his hands expanded away from his body. He let them drop after a moment, and looked back at Eliot expectantly.
Eliot … had no idea what to do with that. “Seriously?”
“Hey. It could happen.”
Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, before shaking his head. “Yes, fine, Dave. Your name is Dave. Can we work on getting the hell out of here now?”
“Dave. Sweet.” He flashed Eliot an unrepentant grin. The grin lasted for all of a second before he frowned. “Did you hear that?”
“The only thing I can hear is you jabbering about … ” Eliot was cut off by “Dave’s” hand coming up to clamp over his mouth, his head tipped to the side like he was listening for something. Eliot tried to struggle away from him, but the kid was stronger than he was, which was definitely a first. He didn’t know who the company had called in on this mission to provide back-up, but they were definitely into something different. Eventually the kid released his hand on Eliot’s mouth.
“False alarm. Let’s go.” Eliot was grumbling about false alarms and kids who didn’t know when to keep their mouth shut, when a shot went off, whizzing just past “Dave’s” head when he stuck it outside the door. “Okay, maybe I lied. Stay here.”
Eliot barely had time to argue with the kid before he zipped outside and shut the door behind him. Eliot could hear the gunfire on the other side, rapid and uneven, followed by several thumps as quite a few bodies hit the ground. By the time Eliot actually managed to open the door, “Dave” was disarming a XM8 and tossing it to the ground. He looked up at Eliot and flashed him a bright smile, more like he had just won the science fair as oppose to taking out a unit of armed soldiers without even breaking a sweat.
“Ready to go?”
“ … Sure. Let’s go.”
***
“Did you smell that?”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
Eliot looked over at Sydney, before shaking his head with a smirk. “Thought I smelled fertilizer.” He picked something mundane enough to be an excuse, but serious enough to be a potential problem. It wasn’t that he didn’t think a bit of conversation was good on a mission like this, but this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having with Sydney. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her-she was a good agent, and her father was a terrifying operative to cross, but he didn’t plan on accepting her offer. He knew it, and he was pretty sure she knew it too, but she kept asking the question.
“I’m serious, Eliot,” she said, and there was only the slight edge of an annoyed tone to her voice to indicate that she was indeed serious. They were camped out outside a remote facility for someone that was probably Russian and probably Rambaldi related, but Eliot hadn’t asked for a lot of the details when Sydney brought him on. He trusted Sydney, probably more than he should, and he knew that odds were he really didn’t want to know what she was into. Especially when there was a shiny new black ops division for it called ‘APO.’
“I know you’re serious,” he replied as he relaxed back against the wall. “You wouldn’t have asked if you weren’t serious.”
“So?” She raised her eyebrows at him as she moved closer. “It could be fun-working together all the time.”
He let his head connect gently with the wall, before letting out a slow sigh. “Teamwork’s not really my thing, Syd. You know that.”
“But you can do it. You’ve worked on teams before-which is why I know this isn’t about being on a team.” Eliot didn’t respond, but he wasn’t looking at her either, because he knew the look she was giving him. It was annoyed and a little hurt, and he hadn’t meant to hurt her. He just couldn’t give her what she wanted. “Eliot, what is this about?”
He closed his eyes. “It’s Sloane.”
“Sloane?” she balked at him. “You won’t join APO because of Sloane.”
“I just don’t trust the guy, alright?” he said, giving her a bit of a glare. “He’s a traitor, a terrorist, and he’s obsessed with all this Rambaldi crap. And you don’t trust him either-I can see it written all over your face.”
Sydney set her jaw, and then swallowed. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t trust Sloane. No one there does. But that’s why I’m doing this-so that I can watch him. That’s why I need people I can trust to work with me, to keep him in check.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do it. Not if he’s the one calling the shots.” He never asked for a whole lot of trust in this business-he knew better, to be quite honest-but he had to trust the guy that was planning the missions and running the unit. And if he couldn’t do that, then he didn’t want to be part of the team. Simple as that.
“You do trust me though, don’t you?”
He turned back to her with a small smile and nodded. “You know I do. But I gotta do what’s right for me.” He held up a hand to her palm towards her. “You ever need me for something? You know all you gotta do is call.”
She returned the smile, reaching forward to clasp her hand in his, before glancing around the corner of the wall. “Ready to get the package?”
“Let’s do it,” he nodded as they both pushed to their feet. They made their way around to corner, and as they got closer to the building, Eliot couldn’t help but catch the scent that was wafting on the air. He reached out, bracing an arm in front of Sydney, eyes narrowing slightly. “You smell that?”
It took a moment, but she nodded. “Gasoline.”
They took another tentative step forward, and somewhere, Eliot heard the very distinctive sound of a match lighting. He turned into the sound just in time to see the match drop onto the property and catch. He immediately turned back to Sydney, grabbing her arm and shoving her in front of him.
“Go! Go!-Move!”
Thankfully, Sydney didn’t need to hear it twice.
***
Eliot’s eyes scanned the entrance of the Buy More, looking for anything suspicious before starting to make his way inside. He had Hardison in his ear, jabbering about a lot of computer stuff he didn’t care about. All he knew was that he needed something at this Buy More in Burbank. Why it had to be this Buy More, Eliot had no idea, and to be honest, he really didn’t want to know. He just wanted to get in, get out, and go home.
“So what am I supposed to get here?”
“It’s not a what so much as a who. I need you to go to the Nerd Herd desk and ask for an analyst named Anna Woo.”
“There’s enough of you to herd now?” Eliot teased. “Do they use dogs or prodding irons?”
“Ha ha, you’re funny. Just focus on the job.”
Eliot smirked as he made his way closer to the table, drumming his fingers on the end. A tall lanky looking guy came over, and flashed him a smile. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” Eliot sighed as he actually looked up to make eye contact. “I’m looking for Anna … ” He paused when the guy looking at him started to make a face like he was having a seizure. “ … Woo?” There was another beat as the guy shook himself out of it. “You okay there, buddy?”
“Yes!” The guy’s voice had gone up about five decibels. “Fine. I’m fine. Perfectly fine, Mr. Spencer-oh crap.”
“What’d you call me?”
“Nothing! Nothing at all!”
Eliot groaned before placing a hand to his ear, and turning to head right back out of the Buy More. “Hardison, we’re blown.”
“Whadaya mean we’re blow. All you had to do was talk to Anna and we’re blown?!”
“I don’t know-” Eliot stopped mid-turn as he made contact with someone he hadn’t seen in a long time. Someone he hadn’t been looking to see again. “Damnit. This place is loaded with NSA.”
“Whoa, whoa, Eliot-slow down. Did you say NSA?”
Casey was starting to make a move to cut him off at the pass, but Eliot was already taking off running, heading out into the parking lot towards his car. “Yes, I said NSA. Just shut up and get ready to get out of here.” He hit the middle of the parking lot when he was stopped dead, looking over the barrel of gun at a familiar looking blond. He smirked before holding his hands up. “Walker.”
“Spencer.” She smirked back. “Going somewhere?”
Eliot sighed. “Apparently not anymore.”
***
“Did you get any sleep at all last night?”
Eliot had been cooking all morning. It takes time to track down ingredients, prepare them the way he needs to, and then actually start the cooking. He had left to pick up the food around six AM and by the time he got back and started cooking, Annie was getting in the shower. It didn’t take him long to prep, however, and he was just putting the finishing touches on things and sliding them into plates when her voice came from the doorway. Eliot only glanced up to make sure it was her, before looking back down at what he was doing.
“Plenty,” he replied, before moving the plates to the small kitchen table. “Sit. Eat something.”
Annie raised an eyebrow at the plates being placed in front of her, but didn’t question him, which he appreciated. She just moved to sit down across from him, eying the food carefully. “Do all spies need to know how to cook? Because I think I missed out on that day at the Farm.”
“Only way to know exactly what’s in your food is to make it yourself,” he replied. “So no, it’s not a requirement, but if you want to keep yourself alive, it’s pretty damn helpful.”
Annie was giving him a skeptical look again, and but he ignored it in favor of eating. “Seems like a pretty paranoid way to live to me.”
Eliot paused, before looking up at her again. When he spoke, his voice was cool, calm, and dead certain. “When you’ve done the things I’ve done, it ain’t paranoia. Eat your breakfast.”
He could feel Annie watching him as he looked down at his food again, a look like she was trying to figure something out and couldn’t exactly figure out what. It dropped a moment later, though, when she took a bite of the food placed in front of her and let out a groan. “God, that’s good.”
Eliot smirked a bit at that, inching his chair closer as he continued to eat. It had been a pretty peaceful morning so far, and Eliot would like to think that that was a good sign for the way things were starting out, but he knew better than that, unfortunately. About twenty minutes later, he was collecting the plates to go wash them by the sink, when he saw the glint of a sniper rifle sight out of the corner of his eye. His eyes went wide, and he was reaching for Annie before she could even react.
“Get down!”
She listened, for once, hands going over her head as his body covered hers. It was only about two seconds before the room exploded.
And the day was starting off so well.
Title: Bet They Won’t Be Expecting That
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison, Michael Westen, Sydney Bristow, Annie Walker, Chuck Bartowski, John Casey, Sarah Walker, Alec McDowell, mentions of Eliot/Sydney, maybe a hint of Eliot/Sarah.
5_times Claim: Table 4
xoverland Challenge: Five Point Community
tamingthemuse Prompt: Explosion
Content Warning: Spoilers possible. Crack ahoy.
Summary: Five spies that Eliot worked with once or twice.
Author’s Note: This led to a lot of aggravated Eliot, so have fun with it. None of these are directly connected to the others, really, but it could be if you chose to read it that way. Chuck is set sometime in the space between Season 2 and 3 of Leverage and in the beginning of Season 3 of Chuck. Alec and Michael are pre-series for all shows. The Annie section could feasibly be out of my Pay Your Dues series, which is mid-Season 1 for Covert Affairs and post-the summer finale for Leverage, but it can be read as a standalone. Sydney is set in early Season 4 of Alias, but pre-series for Leverage. Title is from “Invincible” by OK Go.
Disclaimer: None of it belongs to me. I’m just borrowing, and will put everything back where I found it.
“Damnit, Westen!”
Eliot pushed the rubble off his shoulders before making his way over to where the other spy was buried. Eliot didn’t know why Michael had decided that now would be a good time to set off the bomb, and was tempted to just take the intel and leave his sorry ass there. Fortunately for Michael, however, Eliot didn’t leave people behind. The dirt and dust coated his hand and made his grip slip, but he managed to get everything off him that he could, until he could see Michael’s face.
“Can you walk?”
“What?” Michael looked up at him like he couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Eliot rolled his eyes, before reaching for his hands to pull him out from under the rubble with a hard yank. He could hear the groan from the other man as he pushed himself to his feet. Michael reached for the briefcase with the intel, tucking it under his arm before turning back to him and shouting. “Did you set off the bomb?”
“Stop shouting, you jackass, you’re gonna get us caught!” Eliot snapped back. He let out a huff of a breath. “And I didn’t set it off. I thought you did.”
“Why would I-” Eliot flashed him a glare and he dropped his voice down to a more manageable tone. “Why would I set off the bomb? We weren’t even clear of the blast radius yet.”
“So you didn’t do it?”
“No. I’m not an idiot.”
Eliot thought that point was debatable, but now wasn’t the time. “If you didn’t set it off, and I didn’t set the damn thing off, then who-”
There was a cluster of voices on the other side of the rubble, shouting orders in a language that Eliot couldn’t translate over the ringing in his ears, but he was pretty sure they weren’t allies. Michael cringed slightly, not taking his eyes off the moving shadows. “I did sort of set it up as a booby trap.”
Eliot wanted to punch him, but he knew that wouldn’t exactly be productive at the moment. He grit his teeth before grabbing at the man’s arm and shoving him ahead of him. “Move.”
“Thanks, Spencer,” Michael rolled his eyes, but he did as he was told. “I’m glad you’re so concerned about my well being.”
Eliot growled a bit as he followed him, just wanting to get out of there and get home. “If we make it out of this alive, remind me to kick your ass.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
***
“I can’t believe they sent me a fucking kid to get me out of here.”
To say Eliot was annoyed was an understatement. He didn’t owe anyone enough of a favor for them to send someone after him, and he also -didn’t want to think ahead to what kind of favor this could mean to him. All he cared about at the moment was this kid was barely old enough to be sixteen and he walked into a heavily armed insurgent facility without even looking scared. At the question, the kid just shrugged, before reaching back behind him for the Beretta he had stored under his jacket, and handed it off to him.
“Me, I’d just be grateful the sent anyone at all.” After Eliot didn’t take the gun for a moment, he wiggled it in front of his face. “Here. Take it. You’re gonna need it.”
Eliot shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet. “I don’t do guns.”
He considered that for a moment, before shrugging and placing the gun back in its location at the small of his back. “Suit yourself. Let’s go.” He moved back to the doorframe, placing his back against it as he eased the door open to get a better look at what was going on outside.
“Look … ” Eliot paused for a minute as he looked over at him. “What’d you say your name was again?”
“Four-nine-four.”
Eliot was still on the train of thought of giving orders that he didn’t catch it at first, but it was enough to make him stop and look back at the kid with a glare. “That ain’t a name. I’m not gonna call you a damn number.”
There was the brief flicker of something on the kid’s face, but only brief. Barely there for a second and then gone. Eliot wasn’t sure what it meant, but the kid was sixteen and better at covering up what was going on in that oversized head of his than most agents who had been in the field twenty years. He shot Eliot a smartass smirk before shrugging.
“Fine. You can call me whatever you want. Pick a name, and I’ll roll with it.”
Eliot’s eyes narrowed at him as he continued to stare. “You want me to just pick one?”
“Sure. I’m partial to Dave, personally. Or Steve. I really like Steve.”
Eliot could feel a headache coming on. Not that he hadn’t felt one building since he gotten thrown in this craphole prison, but it was starting to get bigger as the day went on. “Great. Super. Can we focus please?”
“Focusing. Got it.” There was a beat. “Just-can you pick one? Because if I think you’re gonna call me Steve and then you call me Dave, it’s just gonna cause problems. Say a guy is looking to shoot me, or I’m about to step on a landmine, and you go ‘Hey, Dave, look out for that landmine,’ and I’ll just be going ‘Who the fuck is Dave?’ … step … click … ” Then he made noise that sounded like an explosion at his hands expanded away from his body. He let them drop after a moment, and looked back at Eliot expectantly.
Eliot … had no idea what to do with that. “Seriously?”
“Hey. It could happen.”
Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, before shaking his head. “Yes, fine, Dave. Your name is Dave. Can we work on getting the hell out of here now?”
“Dave. Sweet.” He flashed Eliot an unrepentant grin. The grin lasted for all of a second before he frowned. “Did you hear that?”
“The only thing I can hear is you jabbering about … ” Eliot was cut off by “Dave’s” hand coming up to clamp over his mouth, his head tipped to the side like he was listening for something. Eliot tried to struggle away from him, but the kid was stronger than he was, which was definitely a first. He didn’t know who the company had called in on this mission to provide back-up, but they were definitely into something different. Eventually the kid released his hand on Eliot’s mouth.
“False alarm. Let’s go.” Eliot was grumbling about false alarms and kids who didn’t know when to keep their mouth shut, when a shot went off, whizzing just past “Dave’s” head when he stuck it outside the door. “Okay, maybe I lied. Stay here.”
Eliot barely had time to argue with the kid before he zipped outside and shut the door behind him. Eliot could hear the gunfire on the other side, rapid and uneven, followed by several thumps as quite a few bodies hit the ground. By the time Eliot actually managed to open the door, “Dave” was disarming a XM8 and tossing it to the ground. He looked up at Eliot and flashed him a bright smile, more like he had just won the science fair as oppose to taking out a unit of armed soldiers without even breaking a sweat.
“Ready to go?”
“ … Sure. Let’s go.”
***
“Did you smell that?”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
Eliot looked over at Sydney, before shaking his head with a smirk. “Thought I smelled fertilizer.” He picked something mundane enough to be an excuse, but serious enough to be a potential problem. It wasn’t that he didn’t think a bit of conversation was good on a mission like this, but this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having with Sydney. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her-she was a good agent, and her father was a terrifying operative to cross, but he didn’t plan on accepting her offer. He knew it, and he was pretty sure she knew it too, but she kept asking the question.
“I’m serious, Eliot,” she said, and there was only the slight edge of an annoyed tone to her voice to indicate that she was indeed serious. They were camped out outside a remote facility for someone that was probably Russian and probably Rambaldi related, but Eliot hadn’t asked for a lot of the details when Sydney brought him on. He trusted Sydney, probably more than he should, and he knew that odds were he really didn’t want to know what she was into. Especially when there was a shiny new black ops division for it called ‘APO.’
“I know you’re serious,” he replied as he relaxed back against the wall. “You wouldn’t have asked if you weren’t serious.”
“So?” She raised her eyebrows at him as she moved closer. “It could be fun-working together all the time.”
He let his head connect gently with the wall, before letting out a slow sigh. “Teamwork’s not really my thing, Syd. You know that.”
“But you can do it. You’ve worked on teams before-which is why I know this isn’t about being on a team.” Eliot didn’t respond, but he wasn’t looking at her either, because he knew the look she was giving him. It was annoyed and a little hurt, and he hadn’t meant to hurt her. He just couldn’t give her what she wanted. “Eliot, what is this about?”
He closed his eyes. “It’s Sloane.”
“Sloane?” she balked at him. “You won’t join APO because of Sloane.”
“I just don’t trust the guy, alright?” he said, giving her a bit of a glare. “He’s a traitor, a terrorist, and he’s obsessed with all this Rambaldi crap. And you don’t trust him either-I can see it written all over your face.”
Sydney set her jaw, and then swallowed. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t trust Sloane. No one there does. But that’s why I’m doing this-so that I can watch him. That’s why I need people I can trust to work with me, to keep him in check.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do it. Not if he’s the one calling the shots.” He never asked for a whole lot of trust in this business-he knew better, to be quite honest-but he had to trust the guy that was planning the missions and running the unit. And if he couldn’t do that, then he didn’t want to be part of the team. Simple as that.
“You do trust me though, don’t you?”
He turned back to her with a small smile and nodded. “You know I do. But I gotta do what’s right for me.” He held up a hand to her palm towards her. “You ever need me for something? You know all you gotta do is call.”
She returned the smile, reaching forward to clasp her hand in his, before glancing around the corner of the wall. “Ready to get the package?”
“Let’s do it,” he nodded as they both pushed to their feet. They made their way around to corner, and as they got closer to the building, Eliot couldn’t help but catch the scent that was wafting on the air. He reached out, bracing an arm in front of Sydney, eyes narrowing slightly. “You smell that?”
It took a moment, but she nodded. “Gasoline.”
They took another tentative step forward, and somewhere, Eliot heard the very distinctive sound of a match lighting. He turned into the sound just in time to see the match drop onto the property and catch. He immediately turned back to Sydney, grabbing her arm and shoving her in front of him.
“Go! Go!-Move!”
Thankfully, Sydney didn’t need to hear it twice.
***
Eliot’s eyes scanned the entrance of the Buy More, looking for anything suspicious before starting to make his way inside. He had Hardison in his ear, jabbering about a lot of computer stuff he didn’t care about. All he knew was that he needed something at this Buy More in Burbank. Why it had to be this Buy More, Eliot had no idea, and to be honest, he really didn’t want to know. He just wanted to get in, get out, and go home.
“So what am I supposed to get here?”
“It’s not a what so much as a who. I need you to go to the Nerd Herd desk and ask for an analyst named Anna Woo.”
“There’s enough of you to herd now?” Eliot teased. “Do they use dogs or prodding irons?”
“Ha ha, you’re funny. Just focus on the job.”
Eliot smirked as he made his way closer to the table, drumming his fingers on the end. A tall lanky looking guy came over, and flashed him a smile. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” Eliot sighed as he actually looked up to make eye contact. “I’m looking for Anna … ” He paused when the guy looking at him started to make a face like he was having a seizure. “ … Woo?” There was another beat as the guy shook himself out of it. “You okay there, buddy?”
“Yes!” The guy’s voice had gone up about five decibels. “Fine. I’m fine. Perfectly fine, Mr. Spencer-oh crap.”
“What’d you call me?”
“Nothing! Nothing at all!”
Eliot groaned before placing a hand to his ear, and turning to head right back out of the Buy More. “Hardison, we’re blown.”
“Whadaya mean we’re blow. All you had to do was talk to Anna and we’re blown?!”
“I don’t know-” Eliot stopped mid-turn as he made contact with someone he hadn’t seen in a long time. Someone he hadn’t been looking to see again. “Damnit. This place is loaded with NSA.”
“Whoa, whoa, Eliot-slow down. Did you say NSA?”
Casey was starting to make a move to cut him off at the pass, but Eliot was already taking off running, heading out into the parking lot towards his car. “Yes, I said NSA. Just shut up and get ready to get out of here.” He hit the middle of the parking lot when he was stopped dead, looking over the barrel of gun at a familiar looking blond. He smirked before holding his hands up. “Walker.”
“Spencer.” She smirked back. “Going somewhere?”
Eliot sighed. “Apparently not anymore.”
***
“Did you get any sleep at all last night?”
Eliot had been cooking all morning. It takes time to track down ingredients, prepare them the way he needs to, and then actually start the cooking. He had left to pick up the food around six AM and by the time he got back and started cooking, Annie was getting in the shower. It didn’t take him long to prep, however, and he was just putting the finishing touches on things and sliding them into plates when her voice came from the doorway. Eliot only glanced up to make sure it was her, before looking back down at what he was doing.
“Plenty,” he replied, before moving the plates to the small kitchen table. “Sit. Eat something.”
Annie raised an eyebrow at the plates being placed in front of her, but didn’t question him, which he appreciated. She just moved to sit down across from him, eying the food carefully. “Do all spies need to know how to cook? Because I think I missed out on that day at the Farm.”
“Only way to know exactly what’s in your food is to make it yourself,” he replied. “So no, it’s not a requirement, but if you want to keep yourself alive, it’s pretty damn helpful.”
Annie was giving him a skeptical look again, and but he ignored it in favor of eating. “Seems like a pretty paranoid way to live to me.”
Eliot paused, before looking up at her again. When he spoke, his voice was cool, calm, and dead certain. “When you’ve done the things I’ve done, it ain’t paranoia. Eat your breakfast.”
He could feel Annie watching him as he looked down at his food again, a look like she was trying to figure something out and couldn’t exactly figure out what. It dropped a moment later, though, when she took a bite of the food placed in front of her and let out a groan. “God, that’s good.”
Eliot smirked a bit at that, inching his chair closer as he continued to eat. It had been a pretty peaceful morning so far, and Eliot would like to think that that was a good sign for the way things were starting out, but he knew better than that, unfortunately. About twenty minutes later, he was collecting the plates to go wash them by the sink, when he saw the glint of a sniper rifle sight out of the corner of his eye. His eyes went wide, and he was reaching for Annie before she could even react.
“Get down!”
She listened, for once, hands going over her head as his body covered hers. It was only about two seconds before the room exploded.
And the day was starting off so well.