Fanfic: Our Secret Poison, Leverage
Title: Our Secret Poison
Characters/Pairing: Nate, Maggie, Sterling, Sophie, Parker, Hardison, Eliot. Nate/Maggie, hints of Nate/Sophie.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sam's is the restaurant they built to get away from their pain. McRory's is something else entirely. Prohibition AU.
Warnings: Open relationships
Word Count: 1,753
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or any related characters.
Beta: unavoidedcrisis
Hardison was shining glasses when Parker burst in through the back door, hair plastered down on her face from the rain. “What are you doing here?” he said, frowning at her as she shook her bangs out of her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to meet with Bonanno.”
“Police,” she said between gasps. “Outside. Coming here.”
Swallowing around a lump in his throat, he said, “Any chance they’re here for dinner?”
Parker shook her head. “Nate in his office?”
“Last I checked. You want me to tell Sophie?”
“No point, they were practically at the door already. But, uh, make sure to hide to juice, just in case.” Hardison responded with a nod and Parker took off up the back stairs.
Nate’s office was locked as usual, but Parker picked it rather than knocking. Nate hated answering his door. Poking her head inside, she said, “Nate, there are some cops outside.”
He swiveled in his wooden desk chair, raising an eyebrow at her. “Outside coming inside or outside enjoying a shower?”
“Looked like they were coming in.”
“Did you finish with Bonanno?”
“No. There were cops outside.” She spat the word ‘cops’ like it was dirty and Sophie would come clean her mouth out with soap.
Pushing away from his desk, Nate stood up and said, “Go make sure Hardison is set up downstairs. Then come see in me in ten minutes.”
She nodded, then disappeared down the hallway. Rolling his shoulders to lessen the tension, Nate adjusted his tie and tried for his best innocent smile.
At the front of the restaurant, Sophie stiffened as a group of police officers came through the door. Attempting to relax, she smiled politely and picked up a handful of menus. “Can I help you, gentlemen? Five for dinner?”
One of the men pulled out a detective’s badge. “I’m here to see Nate Ford.”
“Oh, well, I believe Mr. Ford is busy in his office and he has an appointment in the next few minutes, but I’ll see if I can bother him.”
“Yes,” he said with a slight sneer. “You do that.”
She set the menus down and turned to find Maggie Ford standing behind her. “Oh, Mrs. Ford, these men were looking for Mr. Ford.”
Maggie looked past Sophie and a grin lit up her face. “Jim Sterling! It’s so good to see you.” She kissed his cheek, avoiding a hug because of his wet trench coat. “You wanted to see Nate?”
“If at all possible, Maggie,” he said, though his voice was softer than the one he had used with Sophie.
“Well, we’re supposed to actually sit down and have dinner together for once. Why don’t you join us? Then you can speak to Nate and I can see my husband for more than five minutes at a time.”
Sterling ran a hand through his wet hair. “I’m on the clock.”
She glanced at the other men over his shoulder. “I can see that. But do you really need all these people just to talk to Nate?” Placing her hand lightly at his arm, she said, “Come on, how long has it been since you’ve had a good meal?”
Conceding, he took off his wet coat. “Let me just send them back to the station and I’ll be happy to join you.”
“Excellent,” Maggie said. “Sophie, would you please set an additional place setting for Detective Sterling and let Mr. Ford know that he’s welcome to join us whenever he can pull himself away from that office of his.”
“Unnecessary, my dear,” Nate said as he walked past Sophie’s departure and came up behind his wife to give her a kiss. “Sterling, nice to see you.”
“Nate,” Sterling said with a nod of greeting.
Raising a teasing eyebrow at him, Maggie said, “I didn’t know it took the police showing up to get you on time for dinner.” She winked at Sterling and rubbed Nate’s back. “Jim is going to be joining us for dinner. He said he had a few questions for you and if I know anything, it’s that both of you do better with conversation when you’re well fed.”
Nate smiled. “If it’s what my wife thinks, then it must be true.”
Before Maggie could respond, Sophie returned, saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Ford, your table is ready.”
Offering his arm to Maggie, Nate said, “Shall we?”
Obviously pleased, Maggie took his arm and led Sterling with her free hand. Nate looked over her shoulder to where Eliot was standing in the corner, always prepared to do whatever had to be done. Nate shook his head as imperceptibly as possible and Eliot returned to the back. He wasn’t needed here.
The private table was set with three place settings, as well as candles and a bottle of sparkling cider. Nate pulled out Maggie’s chair and sat across from Sterling. “So, what’s all this that you need to come talk to me about in uniform?”
Maggie groaned. “We haven’t even decided what we’re going to eat, Nate.”
“I had fresh lobsters driven from Maine this morning. I’m sure they can find an extra one for Jim.”
“Oh, well, if it’s not up to me,” she said, leaning back in her chair and sipping from her water glass.
Nate raised an eyebrow at Sterling, clearly questioning, and Sterling shrugged. “We’ve gotten some anonymous tips lately and you know Blackpool insists that we investigate them all.”
Maggie frowned. “Anonymous tips about what?”
“They’re saying you’ve been importing alcohol and selling it here at Sam’s.”
Nate tried to keep his expression neutral, but Maggie’s jaw dropped. “What, they think we’re running a speakeasy here at Sam’s? Oh, and I suppose we’re running a brothel out of Nate’s office!”
Sterling held up a hand to calm her. “Maggie, I know. Obviously, that’s untrue, but we’re supposed to take all tips seriously. That’s why I asked to talk to you though. So, officially, are you planning to sell alcohol here or anywhere else?”
“Of course not,” Nate said, voice even and calm.
“Then consider the matter settled.” Sterling unrolled his cloth napkin and laid it across his lap. “You may not be one of us anymore, Nate, but we’ll take care of you. Consider the matter dropped.”
It had been a while since he and Sterling had been close, but Nate was touched. Suspicious, certainly, but touched nonetheless. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Sterling looked back and forth between Nate and Maggie. “After everything, you two have built something here with Sam’s. I’d hate to see anything get in the way of that.”
Placing his hand on top of Maggie’s and giving her a squeeze, Nate sighed. “Thank you.”
Maggie took a deep breath. “Let’s just get past all this awful business and have a good dinner now, shall we? I mean, a speakeasy, honestly.”
Kaye Lynn dropped off their soup, and Maggie launched in to a new topic about going to see her parents and helping her mother redecorate the house. Nate watched as Parker grabbed a water pitcher out of a waitress’ hands and came to refill their glasses. He caught her eye and gave her a subtle nod. The understanding was clear in her eyes and after she put the water pitcher on an empty table, he could see her heading out the door and into the night to finally meet with Bonanno.
After dinner, Nate and Maggie walked Sterling to the door of Sam’s. “We really can’t go this long again without seeing each other,” Maggie said, though it sounded more like she was chastising them. “After I get home, we’ll have dinner or catch a show.”
“Looking forward to it, Maggie.” Sterling kissed her cheek, then held a hand out to Nate.
“Good to see you again,” Nate said and shook his hand. “And thank you for taking care of that.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He donned his coat, which had dried off considerably, bid them goodnight, and headed out.
Maggie rested against Nate and he wrapped his arm around his shoulders, “Well,” she said softly, “I don’t know about you but I could use a drink.”
Chuckling underneath his breath, he led her towards the back stairs. “You read my mind.”
Hardison had set up the bar exactly the specifications and Nate was pleased as he got Maggie settled at one of the tables. “Two scotches,” Nate called, sitting next to his wife and rubbing her shoulders. “You were amazing,” he told her softly.
“One of us has to be,” she said cheekily, then kissed him.
Setting two glasses on the table, Hardison poured them each a generous amount of scotch. “Everything okay, sir?”
“Nothing we can’t handle, Alec,” Maggie said, clinking her glass against her husband’s. “I’m just sad I have to leave you here to all the excitement by yourselves.”
Nate stroked her blonde hair away from her face. “Do you really need to visit your parents?”
“If I don’t, then they’ll want to come here and then you’d have to see them.”
“I would be okay with that.”
She laughed. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to get away with this. You’re a horrible liar.”
“Only with you.” He kissed the top of her head.
After she finished her drink, Maggie said, “I should probably go home and get some sleep. My train leaves early tomorrow.”
Nate nodded and called out, “Eliot, can you pull around the car for Maggie please?” To his wife, he said, “He’ll be taking you to the train station tomorrow as well.”
“Then I might actually get there on time.” She kissed him deeply, then stood up. “Don’t get into too much trouble without me.”
“No promises.” He looked past Maggie to where Sophie was coming down the stairs. “Something wrong, Sophie?”
She shook her head. “Just a phone message for you, sir. And I wanted to let you know that Parker is back, she put the box in your office.”
Maggie touched Sophie’s shoulder gently. “Take care of him while I’m gone, okay?”
“You know I always do, Maggie.” The two women shared a secret smile and not for the first time, Nate felt outnumbered and out-powered.
Nate kissed his wife goodbye and watched as she left with Eliot. After topping off his glass of scotch, Sophie said, “Is there anything else I can get for you, Nate?”
He ran his thumb over “McRory’s” etched in script into the glass and shook his head. “No, Sophie. No, everything’s just fine.”
Characters/Pairing: Nate, Maggie, Sterling, Sophie, Parker, Hardison, Eliot. Nate/Maggie, hints of Nate/Sophie.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sam's is the restaurant they built to get away from their pain. McRory's is something else entirely. Prohibition AU.
Warnings: Open relationships
Word Count: 1,753
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or any related characters.
Beta: unavoidedcrisis
Hardison was shining glasses when Parker burst in through the back door, hair plastered down on her face from the rain. “What are you doing here?” he said, frowning at her as she shook her bangs out of her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to meet with Bonanno.”
“Police,” she said between gasps. “Outside. Coming here.”
Swallowing around a lump in his throat, he said, “Any chance they’re here for dinner?”
Parker shook her head. “Nate in his office?”
“Last I checked. You want me to tell Sophie?”
“No point, they were practically at the door already. But, uh, make sure to hide to juice, just in case.” Hardison responded with a nod and Parker took off up the back stairs.
Nate’s office was locked as usual, but Parker picked it rather than knocking. Nate hated answering his door. Poking her head inside, she said, “Nate, there are some cops outside.”
He swiveled in his wooden desk chair, raising an eyebrow at her. “Outside coming inside or outside enjoying a shower?”
“Looked like they were coming in.”
“Did you finish with Bonanno?”
“No. There were cops outside.” She spat the word ‘cops’ like it was dirty and Sophie would come clean her mouth out with soap.
Pushing away from his desk, Nate stood up and said, “Go make sure Hardison is set up downstairs. Then come see in me in ten minutes.”
She nodded, then disappeared down the hallway. Rolling his shoulders to lessen the tension, Nate adjusted his tie and tried for his best innocent smile.
At the front of the restaurant, Sophie stiffened as a group of police officers came through the door. Attempting to relax, she smiled politely and picked up a handful of menus. “Can I help you, gentlemen? Five for dinner?”
One of the men pulled out a detective’s badge. “I’m here to see Nate Ford.”
“Oh, well, I believe Mr. Ford is busy in his office and he has an appointment in the next few minutes, but I’ll see if I can bother him.”
“Yes,” he said with a slight sneer. “You do that.”
She set the menus down and turned to find Maggie Ford standing behind her. “Oh, Mrs. Ford, these men were looking for Mr. Ford.”
Maggie looked past Sophie and a grin lit up her face. “Jim Sterling! It’s so good to see you.” She kissed his cheek, avoiding a hug because of his wet trench coat. “You wanted to see Nate?”
“If at all possible, Maggie,” he said, though his voice was softer than the one he had used with Sophie.
“Well, we’re supposed to actually sit down and have dinner together for once. Why don’t you join us? Then you can speak to Nate and I can see my husband for more than five minutes at a time.”
Sterling ran a hand through his wet hair. “I’m on the clock.”
She glanced at the other men over his shoulder. “I can see that. But do you really need all these people just to talk to Nate?” Placing her hand lightly at his arm, she said, “Come on, how long has it been since you’ve had a good meal?”
Conceding, he took off his wet coat. “Let me just send them back to the station and I’ll be happy to join you.”
“Excellent,” Maggie said. “Sophie, would you please set an additional place setting for Detective Sterling and let Mr. Ford know that he’s welcome to join us whenever he can pull himself away from that office of his.”
“Unnecessary, my dear,” Nate said as he walked past Sophie’s departure and came up behind his wife to give her a kiss. “Sterling, nice to see you.”
“Nate,” Sterling said with a nod of greeting.
Raising a teasing eyebrow at him, Maggie said, “I didn’t know it took the police showing up to get you on time for dinner.” She winked at Sterling and rubbed Nate’s back. “Jim is going to be joining us for dinner. He said he had a few questions for you and if I know anything, it’s that both of you do better with conversation when you’re well fed.”
Nate smiled. “If it’s what my wife thinks, then it must be true.”
Before Maggie could respond, Sophie returned, saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Ford, your table is ready.”
Offering his arm to Maggie, Nate said, “Shall we?”
Obviously pleased, Maggie took his arm and led Sterling with her free hand. Nate looked over her shoulder to where Eliot was standing in the corner, always prepared to do whatever had to be done. Nate shook his head as imperceptibly as possible and Eliot returned to the back. He wasn’t needed here.
The private table was set with three place settings, as well as candles and a bottle of sparkling cider. Nate pulled out Maggie’s chair and sat across from Sterling. “So, what’s all this that you need to come talk to me about in uniform?”
Maggie groaned. “We haven’t even decided what we’re going to eat, Nate.”
“I had fresh lobsters driven from Maine this morning. I’m sure they can find an extra one for Jim.”
“Oh, well, if it’s not up to me,” she said, leaning back in her chair and sipping from her water glass.
Nate raised an eyebrow at Sterling, clearly questioning, and Sterling shrugged. “We’ve gotten some anonymous tips lately and you know Blackpool insists that we investigate them all.”
Maggie frowned. “Anonymous tips about what?”
“They’re saying you’ve been importing alcohol and selling it here at Sam’s.”
Nate tried to keep his expression neutral, but Maggie’s jaw dropped. “What, they think we’re running a speakeasy here at Sam’s? Oh, and I suppose we’re running a brothel out of Nate’s office!”
Sterling held up a hand to calm her. “Maggie, I know. Obviously, that’s untrue, but we’re supposed to take all tips seriously. That’s why I asked to talk to you though. So, officially, are you planning to sell alcohol here or anywhere else?”
“Of course not,” Nate said, voice even and calm.
“Then consider the matter settled.” Sterling unrolled his cloth napkin and laid it across his lap. “You may not be one of us anymore, Nate, but we’ll take care of you. Consider the matter dropped.”
It had been a while since he and Sterling had been close, but Nate was touched. Suspicious, certainly, but touched nonetheless. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Sterling looked back and forth between Nate and Maggie. “After everything, you two have built something here with Sam’s. I’d hate to see anything get in the way of that.”
Placing his hand on top of Maggie’s and giving her a squeeze, Nate sighed. “Thank you.”
Maggie took a deep breath. “Let’s just get past all this awful business and have a good dinner now, shall we? I mean, a speakeasy, honestly.”
Kaye Lynn dropped off their soup, and Maggie launched in to a new topic about going to see her parents and helping her mother redecorate the house. Nate watched as Parker grabbed a water pitcher out of a waitress’ hands and came to refill their glasses. He caught her eye and gave her a subtle nod. The understanding was clear in her eyes and after she put the water pitcher on an empty table, he could see her heading out the door and into the night to finally meet with Bonanno.
After dinner, Nate and Maggie walked Sterling to the door of Sam’s. “We really can’t go this long again without seeing each other,” Maggie said, though it sounded more like she was chastising them. “After I get home, we’ll have dinner or catch a show.”
“Looking forward to it, Maggie.” Sterling kissed her cheek, then held a hand out to Nate.
“Good to see you again,” Nate said and shook his hand. “And thank you for taking care of that.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He donned his coat, which had dried off considerably, bid them goodnight, and headed out.
Maggie rested against Nate and he wrapped his arm around his shoulders, “Well,” she said softly, “I don’t know about you but I could use a drink.”
Chuckling underneath his breath, he led her towards the back stairs. “You read my mind.”
Hardison had set up the bar exactly the specifications and Nate was pleased as he got Maggie settled at one of the tables. “Two scotches,” Nate called, sitting next to his wife and rubbing her shoulders. “You were amazing,” he told her softly.
“One of us has to be,” she said cheekily, then kissed him.
Setting two glasses on the table, Hardison poured them each a generous amount of scotch. “Everything okay, sir?”
“Nothing we can’t handle, Alec,” Maggie said, clinking her glass against her husband’s. “I’m just sad I have to leave you here to all the excitement by yourselves.”
Nate stroked her blonde hair away from her face. “Do you really need to visit your parents?”
“If I don’t, then they’ll want to come here and then you’d have to see them.”
“I would be okay with that.”
She laughed. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to get away with this. You’re a horrible liar.”
“Only with you.” He kissed the top of her head.
After she finished her drink, Maggie said, “I should probably go home and get some sleep. My train leaves early tomorrow.”
Nate nodded and called out, “Eliot, can you pull around the car for Maggie please?” To his wife, he said, “He’ll be taking you to the train station tomorrow as well.”
“Then I might actually get there on time.” She kissed him deeply, then stood up. “Don’t get into too much trouble without me.”
“No promises.” He looked past Maggie to where Sophie was coming down the stairs. “Something wrong, Sophie?”
She shook her head. “Just a phone message for you, sir. And I wanted to let you know that Parker is back, she put the box in your office.”
Maggie touched Sophie’s shoulder gently. “Take care of him while I’m gone, okay?”
“You know I always do, Maggie.” The two women shared a secret smile and not for the first time, Nate felt outnumbered and out-powered.
Nate kissed his wife goodbye and watched as she left with Eliot. After topping off his glass of scotch, Sophie said, “Is there anything else I can get for you, Nate?”
He ran his thumb over “McRory’s” etched in script into the glass and shook his head. “No, Sophie. No, everything’s just fine.”