Fic: It's The End Of The World (As We Know It)
Title: It’s The End Of The World (As We Know It)
Author: Kyra
Disclaimer: I don’t own them; if I did I wouldn’t be writing fanfiction.
Summary: Everything changes when the bomb Parker and Hardison went after turns out to be a fake…And the real one goes off. In the aftermath of the Pulse, things only get more complicated when the Leverage team takes in a stray with secrets of his own.
Pairings: Very light Nate/Sophie and Hardison/Parker
Spoilers: Up through most of ‘The Big Bang Job’ for Leverage, goes AU on the train, and all of Dark Angel is fair game.
Warnings: None that I can think of.
A/N: Okay, yeah, so as soon as Hardison explained what the bomb would do, my first reaction was ‘oh my god, it’s the Pulse!’ and so I just had to write something for it. This is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1: Everything Changes
A fake. It was a fake.
Hardison stared at the EMP bomb on the train in horror, jumping slightly when Parker spoke.
“What?” Parker asked, looking between Hardison and the EMP bomb in confusion. “Do you not know how to stop it?”
Hardison shook his head. “It’s a fake,” he stated softly. “This…this isn’t the real bomb.”
“What? What do you mean it isn’t the real bomb?!” Parker asked frantically, her eyes wide. “If it isn’t real, then where’s the real one?”
“I don’t know!” Hardison exclaimed. “Damn it! We need to find-”
The rest of Hardison’s sentence was cut off as the train’s power suddenly cut out and there was a loud screeching sound, the train jerking harshly, causing Hardison and Parker to slam into the side of the compartment before crashing to the ground. Hardison reached out and pulled Parker close to him as he braced himself as well as he could. Everything in the compartment was falling down around them as they felt the train leave the tracks. Then they were both screaming as the train tipped and they were thrown around even more, Hardison doing his best to keep Parker from getting too injured. When everything finally settled, they looked around to see that they were sprawled on what had once been the ceiling.
“What was that?!” Parker asked as she looked around the compartment in shock.
“The bomb…” Hardison said softly, more to himself than to Parker, before raising his voice and continuing. “It must have been the bomb, the real one. Someone must have set it off.”
Horror crossed Parker’s face as the implications of that statement set in. “Then that means…Oh God! Sophie! And Nate and Eliot! How do we know if they’re okay? What if they’re hurt?”
“They’re okay,” Hardison said as he pulled Parker in closer, both seeking and providing comfort. “They’re okay. They have to be.”
“SOPHIE!” Parker suddenly exclaimed as she pulled away from Hardison and scrambled for the door. “She was following along beside the train!” She jerked at the door to the compartment, trying to get it open for a moment before freezing and looking at Hardison with wide, tear-filled eyes. “What if we squished her?”
Hardison immediately shook his head as he got up and limped over to help Parker with the door, absently noting that he was pretty sure he had sprained his ankle and possibly cracked, if not actually broken, and definitely bruised, his ribs. Though Parker seemed to be okay aside from a small cut near her temple, so as far as he was concerned, his injuries were well worth it. “We didn’t squish her,” he said as he started pulling at the door, Parker quickly joining him. “I’m sure she’s fine.” He just hoped he was right.
A few minutes later, the door finally gave way and slid open far enough for them to slip out. Looking around at all the wreckage, it took them a moment to get their bearings, but when they did, they both let out sighs of relief; the train had rolled away from where Sophie had been driving.
They made their way back toward the tracks as quickly as they could, Parker supporting some of Hardison’s weight so he wouldn’t injure his ankle any further.
“PARKER! HARDISON!”
Parker and Hardison both froze for a second before they broke out in huge grins as they heard Sophie’s voice screaming their names. Parker turned and beamed at Hardison and he nudged her toward the sound of Sophie’s voice.
“Go, I’ll be fine,” he said.
Parker nodded. “We’ll be right back,” she told him before turning and starting to run in the direction of Sophie’s voice, calling out for the older woman.
“SOPHIE!” Parker screamed as she ran up the embankment toward the tracks and Sophie. Seconds later she disappeared from Hardison’s line of sight, though it wasn’t long before both women appeared at the top of the embankment, hurriedly making their way back to him.
“Hardison!” Sophie exclaimed as she reached him, quickly giving the hacker a tight hug. “Are you alright?”
Hardison nodded. “Twisted my ankle,” he replied. “A sprain at the most. But I’m fine. We need to find Nate and Eliot, though.”
“They were at the warehouse when the bomb went off,” Parker said as she and Sophie supported Hardison between them and they started back toward the road.
“So we head for the warehouse?” Sophie asked.
“Probably our best bet,” Hardison replied. “Hopefully they’ll still be there and not on their way to find us.”
Sophie shook her head. “They’re both smart enough to know to stay put,” she said. “We were on the move, they’d have no way of knowing exactly where we are, but we know where they were. They’ll stay put. Nate will make sure they do, as crazy as it will make Eliot.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Hardison said as they made it to the road and turned back toward the city. “And let’s hope you remember how to get there ‘cause I don’t and my phone’s fried now.”
Sophie laughed softly as she shook her head in fond amusement. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I know the way,” she replied. “Though, it’s going to be a long walk.”
Hope you all liked it.
~ Kyra