Mini Big Bang Part Three
Title Flying
Word Count 151
Warnings/Rating None/G
Summary If you're too afraid of falling to the earth, you'll never know the joy of flying in the clouds.
When Parker was little, she'd had a fear of heights. "What if I fall?" was always her question, imagining herself like a leaf on the wind, gracefully cutting through the air until she went splat on the concrete below.
Archie had taught it out of her, though, teaching her to rig harnesses that would not fail and teaching her to love the flight sensation of jumping of highrises. "Parker," he told her seriously, "if you're too afraid of falling to the earth, you'll never know the joy of flying in the clouds."
Love was like that, Parker was finding. She was walking on stars, walking on clouds, higher than she'd ever been. Love was a better feeling than even swan diving off a seventy story building. And instead of a harness to catch her, she had Alec Hardison.
And she knew for a fact that he would never let her fall.
Title Who I Was
Word Count 202
Warnings/Rating None/G
Summary Eliot, why don't you ever cut your hair?
"Eliot, why don't you ever cut your hair?" Parker asked. She sat on the back of the couch, trailing her fingers through the hitter's long hair.
Eliot contemplated shaking her off, but he was too tired and it actually felt kind of good, so he didn't bother protesting. "I cut it, Parker," he answered wearily.
"She means why do you wear it long," Hardison put in from across the room.
"Yeah, I mean, it's got to get in your way when you do..." She broke off and Eliot felt the couch bounce as she moved. "Stuff." He raised an eyebrow at Hardison and the hacker mimicked Parker's exaggerated karate motions.
"Stuff," he said with an eye roll.
"Yeah. Come on, Eliot, why?" She poked him in the ear. "I'm not giving up until you tell me."
Eliot sighed. "I did a lot of things, Parker," he said quietly. "A lot of things." He reached up and took her hand off of his head. "I wear it long because I don't want to be the man I was when I wore it short." He got up from the couch and headed into the bedroom to sleep, leaving Parker and Hardison speechless behind him.
Title The Creepy MacGruber Job
Word Count 560
Warnings/Rating Crack? G
Summary Complete crack insect AU
Creepy MacGruber was a spider, and a damn nasty one. The entire city lived in fear of the Boss and his massive network of spies and cronies. No one crossed Creepy MacGruber and no one breathed a word against him, not even when he and his goons started preying on the locals for food. The spiders were too big and tough; no one who wanted to live messed with them.
Until one day, Creepy MacGruber made the mistake of chowing down on Sam Ford. Sam was the youngest son of a mild-mannered fraud investigator named Nathan Ford. MacGruber figured that he would get the usual amount of trouble (none) from the unknown June beetle family. And at first he was right.
Nate Ford was devestated by his son's death. He started to drink heavily; the fermented berry juice making him unreliable and moody. His wife eventually left him, taking the rest of the grubs with her. Nate would have spiraled even further into drunken despair after that had he not been approached with an offer.
He never learned her name, she was just the Lady in Black. A spider herself, she told him that Creepy MacGruber and his gang of thugs had finally crossed one line too many. She said that Nate was the perfect one to take him down, that she needed him to lead an elite team against the gangsters. Should he accept, the city would be free of the mob forever. If not, he could count on a visit from MacGruber's henchmen. Tonight.
Obviously it didn't take much thought. A threat like that coupled with the promise of revenge on his son's killer, Nate jumped at the chance. He took the leaves of information that the Lady passed to him and when he looked again, she was gone. He spent all night poring over the notes, memorizing everything he could about this team he was supposed to work with.
The first leaf showed a sketch of a tough looking grasshopper by the name of Eliot Spencer. Spencer was a retrieval specialist, a loose cannon, and used to working alone. They all were. Trained to kill in a hundred different ways, all Nate could think was that he was glad Spencer was on their side.
Next was Sophie Devereaux. There was a note beside her name stating that it was probably not her real one. She was beautiful; a moth, not a butterfly, though he'd never have known if he hadn't read it in her file. Sophie was a grifter, and a pretty powerful one. She'd have MacGruber eating out of their hands. Nate chuckled and flipped to the next leaf.
No last name (or was it no first name?) on this one, simply Parker. She was edgy looking, a skinny cockroach girl with a talent for stealing and an insatiable taste for sugar. He'd heard of her. Parker was insane, big on taking risks and biting off more than she could chew. He wasn't sure about working with her; he didn't know if he could trust her; but she was on the team whether he liked it or not.
Last of all was Alec Hardison. He was a ladybug chemist with a track record as long as Nate's leg. Word was that Hardison could whip up anything from sleeping drugs to laughing gas in no time flat and walk away with whatever he wanted from his mark's house. A thief, but a smart one.
Nate stacked the leaves neatly and sighed heavily. Taking down Creepy MacGruber with this team was going to be harder than he'd thought.
Title Samson
Word Count 560
Warnings/Rating Violence, PG
Summary And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the LORD was departed from him. Judges 16:20
"Eliot, wake up, they're here!"
Eliot Spencer's eyes snapped open. Angela was screaming; there was danger. Men were flooding into their room: men in black clothes with silent movements and menacing guns. His instincts kicked in before he was even fully awake and he prepared to leap out of the bed and defend himself and his woman.
Or at least he tried.
Eliot bucked violently and tumbled off the bed onto the floor. His arms were tied behind his back and his legs were laced together in expertly tight knots. He jerked against the ropes, but they held fast. Whoever had tied him knew their stuff; he was trapped like a rat. He struggled to get to his feet somehow and screamed at Angela to run, but it was already too late. Their attackers already had her by the throat, a gun cocked at her temple. Eliot stopped his fruitless struggle and held very still as a pistol was placed beside his own ear. His soldier's brain could immediately see that there was no way out of this at the moment. The best thing to do was bide his time. And observe.
His eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail. It was dark and the men wore black, so there was not much to see. But the style of their movements and configuration of their guns that he recognized as easily as if they'd been wearing nametags. The Mafia. He took a deep breath, calming himself. This was going to get ugly before it got better. And Angela had been dragged right into the middle of it.
As if to confirm his guess, one of the men crouched beside him and tilted his head so that Eliot could see him by the streetlight streaming through the window. "Mr. Spencer," he greeted, as if they'd met casually in a grocery store aisle.
"Sansone," Eliot grunted. Ezio Sansone was a rising star in the Mafia, no thanks to one Eliot Spencer. Eliot had caused a lot of trouble for the Families five years ago when he'd taken out several of their enforcers. They'd been side casualties in a completely seperate job, but the Mafia had a long memory. More importantly, so did Sansone: Eliot had killed two of his brothers in that fight. And he'd been out for blood ever since.
"So finally I found you," the mobster said with a smile. "I was beginning to think I never would. You're a hard man to get to, Mr. Spencer."
Eliot smiled back at him. "Yeah, I try." He nodded toward Angela. The woman's eyes were wide with fear and she was visibly trembling. "Let her go. You've got me, you don't need her."
Sansone's eyes glinted in the half-light. "She's seen my face. And heard my name. We can't let her go now." He nodded sharply to the man holding Angela. He dragged her out of the room, kicking and screaming.
Eliot closed his eyes, trying not to hear her shrieking his name. He opened them again and leveled a hard glare at the gangster in front of him. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."
Sansone only laughed. "Oh, Mr. Spencer," he chuckled. "I highly doubt you'll be killing anyone ever again." He was still laughing when a goon clubbed Eliot over the head, sending everything spiraling into darkness.
Word Count 151
Warnings/Rating None/G
Summary If you're too afraid of falling to the earth, you'll never know the joy of flying in the clouds.
When Parker was little, she'd had a fear of heights. "What if I fall?" was always her question, imagining herself like a leaf on the wind, gracefully cutting through the air until she went splat on the concrete below.
Archie had taught it out of her, though, teaching her to rig harnesses that would not fail and teaching her to love the flight sensation of jumping of highrises. "Parker," he told her seriously, "if you're too afraid of falling to the earth, you'll never know the joy of flying in the clouds."
Love was like that, Parker was finding. She was walking on stars, walking on clouds, higher than she'd ever been. Love was a better feeling than even swan diving off a seventy story building. And instead of a harness to catch her, she had Alec Hardison.
And she knew for a fact that he would never let her fall.
Title Who I Was
Word Count 202
Warnings/Rating None/G
Summary Eliot, why don't you ever cut your hair?
"Eliot, why don't you ever cut your hair?" Parker asked. She sat on the back of the couch, trailing her fingers through the hitter's long hair.
Eliot contemplated shaking her off, but he was too tired and it actually felt kind of good, so he didn't bother protesting. "I cut it, Parker," he answered wearily.
"She means why do you wear it long," Hardison put in from across the room.
"Yeah, I mean, it's got to get in your way when you do..." She broke off and Eliot felt the couch bounce as she moved. "Stuff." He raised an eyebrow at Hardison and the hacker mimicked Parker's exaggerated karate motions.
"Stuff," he said with an eye roll.
"Yeah. Come on, Eliot, why?" She poked him in the ear. "I'm not giving up until you tell me."
Eliot sighed. "I did a lot of things, Parker," he said quietly. "A lot of things." He reached up and took her hand off of his head. "I wear it long because I don't want to be the man I was when I wore it short." He got up from the couch and headed into the bedroom to sleep, leaving Parker and Hardison speechless behind him.
Title The Creepy MacGruber Job
Word Count 560
Warnings/Rating Crack? G
Summary Complete crack insect AU
Creepy MacGruber was a spider, and a damn nasty one. The entire city lived in fear of the Boss and his massive network of spies and cronies. No one crossed Creepy MacGruber and no one breathed a word against him, not even when he and his goons started preying on the locals for food. The spiders were too big and tough; no one who wanted to live messed with them.
Until one day, Creepy MacGruber made the mistake of chowing down on Sam Ford. Sam was the youngest son of a mild-mannered fraud investigator named Nathan Ford. MacGruber figured that he would get the usual amount of trouble (none) from the unknown June beetle family. And at first he was right.
Nate Ford was devestated by his son's death. He started to drink heavily; the fermented berry juice making him unreliable and moody. His wife eventually left him, taking the rest of the grubs with her. Nate would have spiraled even further into drunken despair after that had he not been approached with an offer.
He never learned her name, she was just the Lady in Black. A spider herself, she told him that Creepy MacGruber and his gang of thugs had finally crossed one line too many. She said that Nate was the perfect one to take him down, that she needed him to lead an elite team against the gangsters. Should he accept, the city would be free of the mob forever. If not, he could count on a visit from MacGruber's henchmen. Tonight.
Obviously it didn't take much thought. A threat like that coupled with the promise of revenge on his son's killer, Nate jumped at the chance. He took the leaves of information that the Lady passed to him and when he looked again, she was gone. He spent all night poring over the notes, memorizing everything he could about this team he was supposed to work with.
The first leaf showed a sketch of a tough looking grasshopper by the name of Eliot Spencer. Spencer was a retrieval specialist, a loose cannon, and used to working alone. They all were. Trained to kill in a hundred different ways, all Nate could think was that he was glad Spencer was on their side.
Next was Sophie Devereaux. There was a note beside her name stating that it was probably not her real one. She was beautiful; a moth, not a butterfly, though he'd never have known if he hadn't read it in her file. Sophie was a grifter, and a pretty powerful one. She'd have MacGruber eating out of their hands. Nate chuckled and flipped to the next leaf.
No last name (or was it no first name?) on this one, simply Parker. She was edgy looking, a skinny cockroach girl with a talent for stealing and an insatiable taste for sugar. He'd heard of her. Parker was insane, big on taking risks and biting off more than she could chew. He wasn't sure about working with her; he didn't know if he could trust her; but she was on the team whether he liked it or not.
Last of all was Alec Hardison. He was a ladybug chemist with a track record as long as Nate's leg. Word was that Hardison could whip up anything from sleeping drugs to laughing gas in no time flat and walk away with whatever he wanted from his mark's house. A thief, but a smart one.
Nate stacked the leaves neatly and sighed heavily. Taking down Creepy MacGruber with this team was going to be harder than he'd thought.
Title Samson
Word Count 560
Warnings/Rating Violence, PG
Summary And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the LORD was departed from him. Judges 16:20
"Eliot, wake up, they're here!"
Eliot Spencer's eyes snapped open. Angela was screaming; there was danger. Men were flooding into their room: men in black clothes with silent movements and menacing guns. His instincts kicked in before he was even fully awake and he prepared to leap out of the bed and defend himself and his woman.
Or at least he tried.
Eliot bucked violently and tumbled off the bed onto the floor. His arms were tied behind his back and his legs were laced together in expertly tight knots. He jerked against the ropes, but they held fast. Whoever had tied him knew their stuff; he was trapped like a rat. He struggled to get to his feet somehow and screamed at Angela to run, but it was already too late. Their attackers already had her by the throat, a gun cocked at her temple. Eliot stopped his fruitless struggle and held very still as a pistol was placed beside his own ear. His soldier's brain could immediately see that there was no way out of this at the moment. The best thing to do was bide his time. And observe.
His eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail. It was dark and the men wore black, so there was not much to see. But the style of their movements and configuration of their guns that he recognized as easily as if they'd been wearing nametags. The Mafia. He took a deep breath, calming himself. This was going to get ugly before it got better. And Angela had been dragged right into the middle of it.
As if to confirm his guess, one of the men crouched beside him and tilted his head so that Eliot could see him by the streetlight streaming through the window. "Mr. Spencer," he greeted, as if they'd met casually in a grocery store aisle.
"Sansone," Eliot grunted. Ezio Sansone was a rising star in the Mafia, no thanks to one Eliot Spencer. Eliot had caused a lot of trouble for the Families five years ago when he'd taken out several of their enforcers. They'd been side casualties in a completely seperate job, but the Mafia had a long memory. More importantly, so did Sansone: Eliot had killed two of his brothers in that fight. And he'd been out for blood ever since.
"So finally I found you," the mobster said with a smile. "I was beginning to think I never would. You're a hard man to get to, Mr. Spencer."
Eliot smiled back at him. "Yeah, I try." He nodded toward Angela. The woman's eyes were wide with fear and she was visibly trembling. "Let her go. You've got me, you don't need her."
Sansone's eyes glinted in the half-light. "She's seen my face. And heard my name. We can't let her go now." He nodded sharply to the man holding Angela. He dragged her out of the room, kicking and screaming.
Eliot closed his eyes, trying not to hear her shrieking his name. He opened them again and leveled a hard glare at the gangster in front of him. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."
Sansone only laughed. "Oh, Mr. Spencer," he chuckled. "I highly doubt you'll be killing anyone ever again." He was still laughing when a goon clubbed Eliot over the head, sending everything spiraling into darkness.