more comment fic
These two are connected (in my mind, anyway):
Prompt: teamfic, The team grows to 5 members when Nate refuses to turn his back on a teenaged street kid (Eliot..age 14) who took a beating to protect Sophie or Parker.
“We should take him to the hospital, he’s awfully banged up,” Sophie murmured, looking up at Nate from where she knelt in front of the battered kid whose split lip she was dabbing at with a tissue.
The kid shoved her hand away with a fierce scowl, but Nate didn’t miss the flash of fear in the boy’s eyes, the sudden tension in muscles preparing to run. “He’s standin’ right here, lady,” the kid pointed out in a raspy sort of growl. “And he don’t need a hospital, it’s just a couple bruises and cuts. He’s had worse,” he sneered, edging away from Sophie’s fluttering hands toward the end of the alley.
Nate shifted his position slightly, subtly blocking the kid’s escape route, which earned him a fierce, wary blue glare from beneath shaggy brown bangs. Kid needed a haircut. And a shower. And yeah, probably a hospital, but the way he reacted to the suggestion, Nate had already crossed that off the list. At least until Hardison could set up a new identity for him, one that wouldn’t have Child Protective Services swooping in.
“No hospital,” Nate agreed slowly, sighing softly as the kid’s tension only increased. Yeah, this kid had had worse than the mild beating he’d taken to protect Sophie. “How’d you like a job?” Nate offered impulsively.
“Nate!” Sophie protested. “He’s a little boy, we need to get him back to his family, what-” Nate raised an eyebrow at her before giving the kid’s shaggy hair and dirty, ill-fitting clothes a significant glance. Sophie pursed her lips but sighed and shook her head, acknowledging that it was fairly obvious the boy was living on the streets.
For his part, the boy just eased his back up against the alley wall and studied them both suspiciously. He was a hard case, probably been on his own for a while, but Nate saw something that looked like a gleam of hope deep in those watchful blue eyes. He hadn’t given up dreaming of a better life yet. And he’d risked himself to help Sophie, for no other reason than that she’d been outnumbered, and that “you shouldn’t oughta hit girls that don’t know how ta hit back.”
He was a good kid, Nate thought. He just needed… a little help. And that’s what the team was for, wasn’t it?
“We run cons on bastards that hurt people, take their money and get revenge for the people who can’t get it for themselves,” Nate explained, ignoring the way Sophie raised her eyebrow at that summary. He wanted to put things in terms the kid could understand.
The boy cocked his head thoughtfully, sweeping long hair behind his ear, losing the scowl for the first time. “What do you want me to do?” he asked curiously.
Nate shrugged. “You’re tough, and people tend to overlook kids, underestimate them. I’m sure we’ll find stuff for you to help with.”
The kid eyed him for another long moment, and Nate had to smile a little. He was getting the impression this kid was pretty smart, too. “Alright, mister, you got yourself a new employee,” the boy finally said slowly. “But you try to get freaky on me, I’ll bust your kneecaps.” He offered a grubby hand.
Nate shook it, grinning. “Nothing freaky, check. I’m Nate Ford, by the way.”
“Pleased ta meetcha, Nate,” the kid shot back with a cheeky grin. “I’m Eliot… Spencer.”
Nate noted the slight hesitation, but only nodded in acknowledgment. “Welcome to my team, Eliot.”
Prompt: TeenEliot&Team, Eliot is a runaway that the team takes under their wing.
It hadn’t exactly been easy, at first, bringing Eliot into the team. The boy had been on his own for a while, and was wary of any group of adults. Not that Nate tended to think of most of his team as ‘adults’, but he supposed they were, chronologically speaking, anyway. It hadn’t taken Eliot long to work out that he was safe with them, though, and once he started to relax, things went much more smoothly. He’d obviously learned how to use his big blue eyes and innocent face to best advantage, and Nate watched with bemused appreciation as the kid charmed his way into the rest of the team’s hearts.
He’d asked Hardison to find out where Eliot had come from, and the hacker had warned him it was probably going to take some time. Parker had warned him, not in so many words, but in the way she handled Eliot’s suspicious twitchiness the best of all of them, that whatever they found wasn’t likely to be pretty. And it wasn’t.
“High school blows. Can’t I just get my GED and get it over with?” Eliot demanded, tossing his bookbag to the floor as he entered Nate’s apartment.
Nate sighed and closed the laptop he’d been reading the results of Hardison’s search on. “Now, Eliot, you know we had a deal,” he started.
Eliot sighed gustily and rolled his eyes like any normal exasperated teenager before collapsing on the couch. “I know, I know, go to school like a regular kid and keep my grades above B or no helping with cons.” Eliot turned to face Nate over the back of the couch, trying out a pout Sophie must have been coaching him on. “It’s just so boring. And the kids are so…” He shrugged, looking away with a frown. “You didn’t make Parker go to high school,” Eliot added grumpily.
Nate smiled and rolled his eyes. “If I’d met her when she was your age, I would have,” he assured the boy. Then he let the smile fade and ran a hand through his hair, getting up to pour himself some coffee. Having a kid around had meant sobering up, but having this kid around meant lots of caffeine. Eliot had a way of finding trouble and ending up in the middle of places he had no business being.
Case in point, by the time Nate poured his coffee and turned back around, the kid had his laptop open and was staring wide-eyed at the screen.
Nate cleared his throat, and Eliot looked up at him, narrowing his eyes in a glare of angry betrayal. “I ain’t goin’ back,” he growled, body shifting subtly towards the door. Nate casually began moving to cut off his escape, and hoped Parker hadn’t taught him to dive out windows yet. “You can’t make me,” Eliot continued. Nate raised an eyebrow, and Eliot’s mouth thinned in frustration. “I’ll just run again. If you want me out of here, I’ll go, but I ain’t goin’ back there!”
“None of us want you out of here, Eliot,” Nate said calmly.
“Then why did you find my damn family if you don’t wanna get rid of me?” Eliot demanded. He was angry, furious, but there was fear and hurt underneath that he wasn’t skilled enough yet to hide.
Nate sighed and shook his head, moving closer to the boy. “Eliot,” he said quietly, holding his hands out, “I had to know. This life, the team… if you stay with us, you’re almost certain to grow up to be a criminal. Granted, a criminal who helps people, but… I can’t promise you a normal life. You’re a bright kid, you could do just about anything you wanted-”
“Not if you send me back there,” Eliot cut in, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. “I left because I had to, Nate, I-”
“I know,” Nate said solemnly. “But Eliot, I had to be sure. I had to know that keeping you here, with us, with… I had to know I was doing what was best for you.”
Eliot frowned, but relaxed a little. “You couldn’t just ask?” he muttered.
Nate shrugged and smiled wryly.
Eliot glanced at the computer screen and then quickly away, shadows in his eyes. “…so now you’re sure?” he pressed.
“Yes,” Nate agreed. “Now I’m sure. So now I just need to know…” He walked over beside Eliot and reached down to the laptop’s touchpad, minimizing the file that contained Eliot’s actual past and bringing up a window displaying the adoption records Hardison had finally completed for the Eliot Spencer file. “Are you sure?”
Eliot stared at the screen for a long time before letting out a sigh and leaning his shoulder against Nate’s, smiling just a little.
Prompt: teamfic, The team grows to 5 members when Nate refuses to turn his back on a teenaged street kid (Eliot..age 14) who took a beating to protect Sophie or Parker.
“We should take him to the hospital, he’s awfully banged up,” Sophie murmured, looking up at Nate from where she knelt in front of the battered kid whose split lip she was dabbing at with a tissue.
The kid shoved her hand away with a fierce scowl, but Nate didn’t miss the flash of fear in the boy’s eyes, the sudden tension in muscles preparing to run. “He’s standin’ right here, lady,” the kid pointed out in a raspy sort of growl. “And he don’t need a hospital, it’s just a couple bruises and cuts. He’s had worse,” he sneered, edging away from Sophie’s fluttering hands toward the end of the alley.
Nate shifted his position slightly, subtly blocking the kid’s escape route, which earned him a fierce, wary blue glare from beneath shaggy brown bangs. Kid needed a haircut. And a shower. And yeah, probably a hospital, but the way he reacted to the suggestion, Nate had already crossed that off the list. At least until Hardison could set up a new identity for him, one that wouldn’t have Child Protective Services swooping in.
“No hospital,” Nate agreed slowly, sighing softly as the kid’s tension only increased. Yeah, this kid had had worse than the mild beating he’d taken to protect Sophie. “How’d you like a job?” Nate offered impulsively.
“Nate!” Sophie protested. “He’s a little boy, we need to get him back to his family, what-” Nate raised an eyebrow at her before giving the kid’s shaggy hair and dirty, ill-fitting clothes a significant glance. Sophie pursed her lips but sighed and shook her head, acknowledging that it was fairly obvious the boy was living on the streets.
For his part, the boy just eased his back up against the alley wall and studied them both suspiciously. He was a hard case, probably been on his own for a while, but Nate saw something that looked like a gleam of hope deep in those watchful blue eyes. He hadn’t given up dreaming of a better life yet. And he’d risked himself to help Sophie, for no other reason than that she’d been outnumbered, and that “you shouldn’t oughta hit girls that don’t know how ta hit back.”
He was a good kid, Nate thought. He just needed… a little help. And that’s what the team was for, wasn’t it?
“We run cons on bastards that hurt people, take their money and get revenge for the people who can’t get it for themselves,” Nate explained, ignoring the way Sophie raised her eyebrow at that summary. He wanted to put things in terms the kid could understand.
The boy cocked his head thoughtfully, sweeping long hair behind his ear, losing the scowl for the first time. “What do you want me to do?” he asked curiously.
Nate shrugged. “You’re tough, and people tend to overlook kids, underestimate them. I’m sure we’ll find stuff for you to help with.”
The kid eyed him for another long moment, and Nate had to smile a little. He was getting the impression this kid was pretty smart, too. “Alright, mister, you got yourself a new employee,” the boy finally said slowly. “But you try to get freaky on me, I’ll bust your kneecaps.” He offered a grubby hand.
Nate shook it, grinning. “Nothing freaky, check. I’m Nate Ford, by the way.”
“Pleased ta meetcha, Nate,” the kid shot back with a cheeky grin. “I’m Eliot… Spencer.”
Nate noted the slight hesitation, but only nodded in acknowledgment. “Welcome to my team, Eliot.”
Prompt: TeenEliot&Team, Eliot is a runaway that the team takes under their wing.
It hadn’t exactly been easy, at first, bringing Eliot into the team. The boy had been on his own for a while, and was wary of any group of adults. Not that Nate tended to think of most of his team as ‘adults’, but he supposed they were, chronologically speaking, anyway. It hadn’t taken Eliot long to work out that he was safe with them, though, and once he started to relax, things went much more smoothly. He’d obviously learned how to use his big blue eyes and innocent face to best advantage, and Nate watched with bemused appreciation as the kid charmed his way into the rest of the team’s hearts.
He’d asked Hardison to find out where Eliot had come from, and the hacker had warned him it was probably going to take some time. Parker had warned him, not in so many words, but in the way she handled Eliot’s suspicious twitchiness the best of all of them, that whatever they found wasn’t likely to be pretty. And it wasn’t.
“High school blows. Can’t I just get my GED and get it over with?” Eliot demanded, tossing his bookbag to the floor as he entered Nate’s apartment.
Nate sighed and closed the laptop he’d been reading the results of Hardison’s search on. “Now, Eliot, you know we had a deal,” he started.
Eliot sighed gustily and rolled his eyes like any normal exasperated teenager before collapsing on the couch. “I know, I know, go to school like a regular kid and keep my grades above B or no helping with cons.” Eliot turned to face Nate over the back of the couch, trying out a pout Sophie must have been coaching him on. “It’s just so boring. And the kids are so…” He shrugged, looking away with a frown. “You didn’t make Parker go to high school,” Eliot added grumpily.
Nate smiled and rolled his eyes. “If I’d met her when she was your age, I would have,” he assured the boy. Then he let the smile fade and ran a hand through his hair, getting up to pour himself some coffee. Having a kid around had meant sobering up, but having this kid around meant lots of caffeine. Eliot had a way of finding trouble and ending up in the middle of places he had no business being.
Case in point, by the time Nate poured his coffee and turned back around, the kid had his laptop open and was staring wide-eyed at the screen.
Nate cleared his throat, and Eliot looked up at him, narrowing his eyes in a glare of angry betrayal. “I ain’t goin’ back,” he growled, body shifting subtly towards the door. Nate casually began moving to cut off his escape, and hoped Parker hadn’t taught him to dive out windows yet. “You can’t make me,” Eliot continued. Nate raised an eyebrow, and Eliot’s mouth thinned in frustration. “I’ll just run again. If you want me out of here, I’ll go, but I ain’t goin’ back there!”
“None of us want you out of here, Eliot,” Nate said calmly.
“Then why did you find my damn family if you don’t wanna get rid of me?” Eliot demanded. He was angry, furious, but there was fear and hurt underneath that he wasn’t skilled enough yet to hide.
Nate sighed and shook his head, moving closer to the boy. “Eliot,” he said quietly, holding his hands out, “I had to know. This life, the team… if you stay with us, you’re almost certain to grow up to be a criminal. Granted, a criminal who helps people, but… I can’t promise you a normal life. You’re a bright kid, you could do just about anything you wanted-”
“Not if you send me back there,” Eliot cut in, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. “I left because I had to, Nate, I-”
“I know,” Nate said solemnly. “But Eliot, I had to be sure. I had to know that keeping you here, with us, with… I had to know I was doing what was best for you.”
Eliot frowned, but relaxed a little. “You couldn’t just ask?” he muttered.
Nate shrugged and smiled wryly.
Eliot glanced at the computer screen and then quickly away, shadows in his eyes. “…so now you’re sure?” he pressed.
“Yes,” Nate agreed. “Now I’m sure. So now I just need to know…” He walked over beside Eliot and reached down to the laptop’s touchpad, minimizing the file that contained Eliot’s actual past and bringing up a window displaying the adoption records Hardison had finally completed for the Eliot Spencer file. “Are you sure?”
Eliot stared at the screen for a long time before letting out a sigh and leaning his shoulder against Nate’s, smiling just a little.