First Sparks
Title: First Sparks
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg-13
Genre: Werewolf!Eliot, pre-Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Verse: Phases of the Moon
Summary: They knew something had happened from the beginning. Later they'd have that as comfort and condemnation.
Notes: For the electricution square on my H/c bingo card. I got a little... metaphorical on this one.
They noticed from the beginning, knew the very moment Eliot walked into the apartment that something changed.
Later they’d have that both as comfort and condemnation.
It was just under a month since Eliot was turned and the team had finished up a job the day before and were holding off starting a new one until the lunar cycle was a little more in their favor.
The day after tomorrow, the night before the full moon, Eliot would make the monthly change for the first time.
They were all adapting, dealing, moving forward. Nate had even heard Parker and Hardison teasing Eliot about his ‘time of the month’ the day before and the hitter threatening them with bodily harm.
It was possibly a sign that there was something wrong with the team as a whole that in Nate’s book that was a good sign.
He and Sophie were still having trouble and not just because they knew what was coming with the full moon.
Eliot was covering well but they were both good enough at reading people to know on some level Eliot was struggling. The changes happening inside his mind and body were subtler than the ones that happened every full moon but in a way that was harder on the hitter, waking up every morning and going to sleep every night with his limits, senses, even body itself different than the day before and completely out of his control. Before his instincts had been a useful tool, keeping him alive and sharp they were running rampant through the man in ways they could only guess at.
But what had them both the most worried was the weight that seemed to have settled on Eliot’s shoulders, the emotion that seemed to hang over him, flickering across his face when he thought no one was looking or would notice it’s echo after his smiles.
Loneliness, longing… the words just didn’t feel quite right.
Which is why they knew something had happened because the weight, the hint of desolation, the part of him that seemed far away and tired was gone.
It seemed almost like someone had shocked him back to life and run a current through him then given him about eight shots of espresso for good measure.
Sophie couldn’t remember ever seeing Eliot look jittery before.
He joked with Parker and Hardison, banter spilling over at a faster pace than usual.
Then Sophie caught sight of Nate’s worried expression and slipped over to stand next to him, still watching the kids play. “What is it?”
“I’ve seen him like this before.” Nate muttered. “Not exactly like this but…”
“But what.”
“Back before he was a retrieval specialist, just one of the best hitters money could hire. He used to get like this after a big fight. I always thought it was because he was using some kind of drug before the fights.” In the silence afterwards Sophie heard a story long gone and the explanation not quite finished. So it was easier to just kill without thinking.
“Do you think…?” Sophie asked not even sure what it was she was asking. If Eliot had gone back to old habits to escape what he was going through? If he’d had a big fight somewhere and this was just his natural reaction?
Eliot slipped away from the others and suddenly he was right there. Sophie cursed internally. They were still all trying to get used to the way his senses were so sharply improved.
“’m not high.” He stated with a serious expression, almost visibly trying to still the jitters passing through his system. “I’m just… I met someone.” He explained, or attempted to. He didn’t seem to really know quite how to explain it.
“Met someone?” Nate asked, voice neutral.
Eliot nodded. “Another werewolf.”
Oh.
“His names Jacob. He’s an alpha.” Even as Eliot said it he took a breath in, eyes half closing, looking more like a wolf trying to pull in and classify the smells in the air than a human. They’d been warned by Hardison’s hacker friend that the closer to the full moon it was the stronger the wolf got and for someone newly turned it was likely mannerisms would get more wolf like than human for the first few months at least. “He smells almost as good as Sop-" Eliot half coughed, looking to the side, almost embarrassed look on his face as human mind caught up with what he was saying.
“Hah!” Parker laughed somewhere behind them, saving the moment because really they all knew Parker didn’t understand people enough to laugh at them. “A werewolf named Jacob. Hah.” She turned toward Hardison who was making the “no” motion at her. “Like in that really really bad horror movie you took me to. With the vampire that sparkled and the girl with Stockholm syndrome.”
By far the most frightening thing of the afternoon seemed to be that Hardison had taken Parker to see Eclipse.
Nate shook his head and went back into the kitchen for something to drink while Hardison tired (probably not for the first time) to explain the movie to Parker (and from the sound of it why it was only a horror movie in the sense that it was horrific that kids thought it wasn’t a horror movie).
Sophie rested a hand on Eliot’s shoulder, surprised at the tension coiled in the hitter. “I think it’s sweet that you think I smell nice.” She told him, trying to ease his embarrassment a little, not entirely sure the protocol for the situation. “Would you tell me more about this friend of yours?”
Eliot eased himself onto a chair by the table and Sophie sat next to him.
“I was out for a run this morning and he found me. Said he’d been trying to find me since I first turned, he’d been smelling me for weeks… I’ve been smelling him to so I believed him. He asked to run with me, said he knew I was newly turned and didn’t have a pack and I had to have some questions and…” He faltered, confusion and frustration on his face.
“And what?” She asked, surprised he was telling her this but sensing…
He didn’t understand. There was so much going on inside of him that he didn’t understand maybe he was finally trying to trust someone else in the hopes that maybe it would help clear the fog he was walking through.
“…I just… said yes.” He said simply. “…it never even passed through my mind I could say no or that I’d want to. I just… I trusted him. Instinctively.” He shook his head, continuing to speak, not quite babbling, Eliot didn’t babble, but the jitters seemed to be getting worse just thinking about it. “When I was a kid my mama always said that sometimes when you meet people you’ll get this jolt, a shock almost, and that’s fate’s way of saying you should pay attention.”
Sophie nodded, covering her surprise. This was the first time she could remember Eliot talking about his family in more than a barely there passing mention. “You felt that jolt?” She asked, some part of her wanting to ask about a different meeting but this wasn’t the time.
Eliot looked down at his hands, clutching at the table like he was trying to find some way of grounding himself. He shook his head, letting out a breath, the effort to force himself into stillness almost visible. “I feel like I was electrocuted.” He finally muttered. “Only it doesn’t hurt. Just…” His voice faded away. “And it starts to fade and my mind bounces back to him and I *need* to go find him…” A bitter sound that was almost a laugh broke out of him. “It’s ironic. I Killed that packs beta and it turns out I’m a natural beta. Of course.”
Sophie let out the breath she’d been drawing in, her own private fears confirmed.
Of them all she knew the most about pack hierarchy, knew it was structured around dominance. Personality, abilities, even birthrights, determined whether a pack member was dominant or submissive with each side serving their roles, giving protection in exchange for obedience and loyalty as a group and often as mated pairs.
The wolf that established dominance over the pack became the alpha, their word becoming law for all those under them, the power of the pack binding them to the Alpha’s will.
And somewhere between the Alpha and the rest of the pack, able to take charge in time of need but not a dominant wolf, able to submit to the Alpha but not a submissive wolf, were beta wolves.
Although dominant wolves, especially those who would otherwise be alphas, could last long periods as lone wolves, and even submissive wolves could make the adjustments and even come out the other side as a dominant, a beta…
Their instincts drove them differently, not just directing them toward the basic needs and giving them a pack mentality. Where most other wolves could, at least for some time, shake off the fact they were social creatures a beta’s brain was hardwired to bond with an alpha for guidance and protection and help them form a pack to protect and guide….
Even if she didn’t know that, the way just a brief contact with an alpha had Eliot practically shaking with instincts he didn’t understand or know how to direct would have told her plenty.
She wanted to tell Eliot that he’d been acting as Beta to Nate’s Alpha for a long time now, but she knew that wasn’t the point.
They were trying to give Eliot the support of a family, give his wolf the sense of a pack, but at day’s end they might have to let him go.
Sophie dismissed the idea.
They’d just have to do what they could to help him stay. Cross or burn whatever bridges they’d have to when they came to them.
Maybe they could steal him a pack.
She refocused her attention on Eliot, noticing the tremors running through his body, the way he jerked slightly every time the banter between Parker and Hardison got louder and twitched at things that probably only he could even register.
It wasn’t hard to recognize he was experiencing sensory overload.
She wanted to help him but wasn’t sure she could without making things worse before a thought occurred to her. Eliot’s own words twisting through her mind.
She stood slowly, not touching him, but saying in a soft voice. “Come with me.” She headed for the door without waiting to see if he’d follow her.
With Eliot it was always best if you just didn’t give him a chance to argue.
She hesitated a moment at the stairs before heading down into the basement. She might not like the dank and stale air but the lack of ventilation would prevent any stray hints of Jacob’s or any other werewolf’s scents from finding them.
Eliot had said he felt like he’d been electrocuted.
So it only made sense for the first step to be removing him from the source of the “electricity” as best as she could.
Plus it was quiet here, which would help soothe his frayed nerves further.
Eliot followed her into the panic room and she was surprised to see him relax a little even as he stepped into the room. She hadn’t expected even minor immediate results.
Then again this was where he’d made his first change, only to wake up to the team there, taking care of and protecting him…
Maybe it registered as something other than a panic room to him.
“Lay down on the bed.” She told him, keeping her voice firm and even but gentle.
“Sophie?” He asked, hesitating just a little even as he inched toward the bed.
“Trust me.”
Hopefully he did by now.
After another minute he did as told and she nodded to herself, mentally checking off the first step.
Of course the only steps that she knew to come after that was the generic “Administer first aid”
But that she could figure out.
She pulled a chair over to sit beside the bed, placing a hand on Eliot’s shoulder when he started moving to sit up.
“Relax.” She told him softly, watching the he turned toward her hand, breathing in and almost visually relaxing.
Her scent.
He could smell it even in human form and his wolf probably associated it with comfort.
She made a mental note to bring in her own pillowcases and sheets for the cot during the full moon if he didn’t let them stay with him through the chance.
She ran her fingers through his hair, waiting as he tensed and fought his own instincts, and gave into them, relaxing at last.
“Good. Just breathe, lie still. Stay here with me.” She mumbled, more to say something than to talk to him.
Bit by bit coiled muscles and nervous energy released and relaxed and Eliot slipped off to sleep.
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg-13
Genre: Werewolf!Eliot, pre-Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Verse: Phases of the Moon
Summary: They knew something had happened from the beginning. Later they'd have that as comfort and condemnation.
Notes: For the electricution square on my H/c bingo card. I got a little... metaphorical on this one.
They noticed from the beginning, knew the very moment Eliot walked into the apartment that something changed.
Later they’d have that both as comfort and condemnation.
It was just under a month since Eliot was turned and the team had finished up a job the day before and were holding off starting a new one until the lunar cycle was a little more in their favor.
The day after tomorrow, the night before the full moon, Eliot would make the monthly change for the first time.
They were all adapting, dealing, moving forward. Nate had even heard Parker and Hardison teasing Eliot about his ‘time of the month’ the day before and the hitter threatening them with bodily harm.
It was possibly a sign that there was something wrong with the team as a whole that in Nate’s book that was a good sign.
He and Sophie were still having trouble and not just because they knew what was coming with the full moon.
Eliot was covering well but they were both good enough at reading people to know on some level Eliot was struggling. The changes happening inside his mind and body were subtler than the ones that happened every full moon but in a way that was harder on the hitter, waking up every morning and going to sleep every night with his limits, senses, even body itself different than the day before and completely out of his control. Before his instincts had been a useful tool, keeping him alive and sharp they were running rampant through the man in ways they could only guess at.
But what had them both the most worried was the weight that seemed to have settled on Eliot’s shoulders, the emotion that seemed to hang over him, flickering across his face when he thought no one was looking or would notice it’s echo after his smiles.
Loneliness, longing… the words just didn’t feel quite right.
Which is why they knew something had happened because the weight, the hint of desolation, the part of him that seemed far away and tired was gone.
It seemed almost like someone had shocked him back to life and run a current through him then given him about eight shots of espresso for good measure.
Sophie couldn’t remember ever seeing Eliot look jittery before.
He joked with Parker and Hardison, banter spilling over at a faster pace than usual.
Then Sophie caught sight of Nate’s worried expression and slipped over to stand next to him, still watching the kids play. “What is it?”
“I’ve seen him like this before.” Nate muttered. “Not exactly like this but…”
“But what.”
“Back before he was a retrieval specialist, just one of the best hitters money could hire. He used to get like this after a big fight. I always thought it was because he was using some kind of drug before the fights.” In the silence afterwards Sophie heard a story long gone and the explanation not quite finished. So it was easier to just kill without thinking.
“Do you think…?” Sophie asked not even sure what it was she was asking. If Eliot had gone back to old habits to escape what he was going through? If he’d had a big fight somewhere and this was just his natural reaction?
Eliot slipped away from the others and suddenly he was right there. Sophie cursed internally. They were still all trying to get used to the way his senses were so sharply improved.
“’m not high.” He stated with a serious expression, almost visibly trying to still the jitters passing through his system. “I’m just… I met someone.” He explained, or attempted to. He didn’t seem to really know quite how to explain it.
“Met someone?” Nate asked, voice neutral.
Eliot nodded. “Another werewolf.”
Oh.
“His names Jacob. He’s an alpha.” Even as Eliot said it he took a breath in, eyes half closing, looking more like a wolf trying to pull in and classify the smells in the air than a human. They’d been warned by Hardison’s hacker friend that the closer to the full moon it was the stronger the wolf got and for someone newly turned it was likely mannerisms would get more wolf like than human for the first few months at least. “He smells almost as good as Sop-" Eliot half coughed, looking to the side, almost embarrassed look on his face as human mind caught up with what he was saying.
“Hah!” Parker laughed somewhere behind them, saving the moment because really they all knew Parker didn’t understand people enough to laugh at them. “A werewolf named Jacob. Hah.” She turned toward Hardison who was making the “no” motion at her. “Like in that really really bad horror movie you took me to. With the vampire that sparkled and the girl with Stockholm syndrome.”
By far the most frightening thing of the afternoon seemed to be that Hardison had taken Parker to see Eclipse.
Nate shook his head and went back into the kitchen for something to drink while Hardison tired (probably not for the first time) to explain the movie to Parker (and from the sound of it why it was only a horror movie in the sense that it was horrific that kids thought it wasn’t a horror movie).
Sophie rested a hand on Eliot’s shoulder, surprised at the tension coiled in the hitter. “I think it’s sweet that you think I smell nice.” She told him, trying to ease his embarrassment a little, not entirely sure the protocol for the situation. “Would you tell me more about this friend of yours?”
Eliot eased himself onto a chair by the table and Sophie sat next to him.
“I was out for a run this morning and he found me. Said he’d been trying to find me since I first turned, he’d been smelling me for weeks… I’ve been smelling him to so I believed him. He asked to run with me, said he knew I was newly turned and didn’t have a pack and I had to have some questions and…” He faltered, confusion and frustration on his face.
“And what?” She asked, surprised he was telling her this but sensing…
He didn’t understand. There was so much going on inside of him that he didn’t understand maybe he was finally trying to trust someone else in the hopes that maybe it would help clear the fog he was walking through.
“…I just… said yes.” He said simply. “…it never even passed through my mind I could say no or that I’d want to. I just… I trusted him. Instinctively.” He shook his head, continuing to speak, not quite babbling, Eliot didn’t babble, but the jitters seemed to be getting worse just thinking about it. “When I was a kid my mama always said that sometimes when you meet people you’ll get this jolt, a shock almost, and that’s fate’s way of saying you should pay attention.”
Sophie nodded, covering her surprise. This was the first time she could remember Eliot talking about his family in more than a barely there passing mention. “You felt that jolt?” She asked, some part of her wanting to ask about a different meeting but this wasn’t the time.
Eliot looked down at his hands, clutching at the table like he was trying to find some way of grounding himself. He shook his head, letting out a breath, the effort to force himself into stillness almost visible. “I feel like I was electrocuted.” He finally muttered. “Only it doesn’t hurt. Just…” His voice faded away. “And it starts to fade and my mind bounces back to him and I *need* to go find him…” A bitter sound that was almost a laugh broke out of him. “It’s ironic. I Killed that packs beta and it turns out I’m a natural beta. Of course.”
Sophie let out the breath she’d been drawing in, her own private fears confirmed.
Of them all she knew the most about pack hierarchy, knew it was structured around dominance. Personality, abilities, even birthrights, determined whether a pack member was dominant or submissive with each side serving their roles, giving protection in exchange for obedience and loyalty as a group and often as mated pairs.
The wolf that established dominance over the pack became the alpha, their word becoming law for all those under them, the power of the pack binding them to the Alpha’s will.
And somewhere between the Alpha and the rest of the pack, able to take charge in time of need but not a dominant wolf, able to submit to the Alpha but not a submissive wolf, were beta wolves.
Although dominant wolves, especially those who would otherwise be alphas, could last long periods as lone wolves, and even submissive wolves could make the adjustments and even come out the other side as a dominant, a beta…
Their instincts drove them differently, not just directing them toward the basic needs and giving them a pack mentality. Where most other wolves could, at least for some time, shake off the fact they were social creatures a beta’s brain was hardwired to bond with an alpha for guidance and protection and help them form a pack to protect and guide….
Even if she didn’t know that, the way just a brief contact with an alpha had Eliot practically shaking with instincts he didn’t understand or know how to direct would have told her plenty.
She wanted to tell Eliot that he’d been acting as Beta to Nate’s Alpha for a long time now, but she knew that wasn’t the point.
They were trying to give Eliot the support of a family, give his wolf the sense of a pack, but at day’s end they might have to let him go.
Sophie dismissed the idea.
They’d just have to do what they could to help him stay. Cross or burn whatever bridges they’d have to when they came to them.
Maybe they could steal him a pack.
She refocused her attention on Eliot, noticing the tremors running through his body, the way he jerked slightly every time the banter between Parker and Hardison got louder and twitched at things that probably only he could even register.
It wasn’t hard to recognize he was experiencing sensory overload.
She wanted to help him but wasn’t sure she could without making things worse before a thought occurred to her. Eliot’s own words twisting through her mind.
She stood slowly, not touching him, but saying in a soft voice. “Come with me.” She headed for the door without waiting to see if he’d follow her.
With Eliot it was always best if you just didn’t give him a chance to argue.
She hesitated a moment at the stairs before heading down into the basement. She might not like the dank and stale air but the lack of ventilation would prevent any stray hints of Jacob’s or any other werewolf’s scents from finding them.
Eliot had said he felt like he’d been electrocuted.
So it only made sense for the first step to be removing him from the source of the “electricity” as best as she could.
Plus it was quiet here, which would help soothe his frayed nerves further.
Eliot followed her into the panic room and she was surprised to see him relax a little even as he stepped into the room. She hadn’t expected even minor immediate results.
Then again this was where he’d made his first change, only to wake up to the team there, taking care of and protecting him…
Maybe it registered as something other than a panic room to him.
“Lay down on the bed.” She told him, keeping her voice firm and even but gentle.
“Sophie?” He asked, hesitating just a little even as he inched toward the bed.
“Trust me.”
Hopefully he did by now.
After another minute he did as told and she nodded to herself, mentally checking off the first step.
Of course the only steps that she knew to come after that was the generic “Administer first aid”
But that she could figure out.
She pulled a chair over to sit beside the bed, placing a hand on Eliot’s shoulder when he started moving to sit up.
“Relax.” She told him softly, watching the he turned toward her hand, breathing in and almost visually relaxing.
Her scent.
He could smell it even in human form and his wolf probably associated it with comfort.
She made a mental note to bring in her own pillowcases and sheets for the cot during the full moon if he didn’t let them stay with him through the chance.
She ran her fingers through his hair, waiting as he tensed and fought his own instincts, and gave into them, relaxing at last.
“Good. Just breathe, lie still. Stay here with me.” She mumbled, more to say something than to talk to him.
Bit by bit coiled muscles and nervous energy released and relaxed and Eliot slipped off to sleep.