Moon Wish
Title: Moon Wish
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg
Genre: Werewolf!Eliot, Wee!Werewolf!Eliot, implied Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Verse: Phases of the Moon
Summary: Christmas brings an unexpected gift.
Notes: My last Christmas Ficcing of Joy fic for this year, written for Deanangst who asked for my PotM Eliot getting Deaged for Christmas.
It had been just after midnight when Nate’s cell rang.
He’d been sitting in the kitchen (in the dark) contemplating the pros and cons of getting drunk enough to forget that it was going to be Christmas very soon and he should be spending it with Maggie and Sam and…
He was just getting started when his cell phone rang, his voice not even a hint slurred when he answered it.
“Nathan Ford?” The panicked voice was female with an oddly familiar twang.
“Yes?”
“I… I’m Eliot’s sister, Josephine.” That might explain the twang. “I was on the phone with him just a minute ago when there was a crash and he yelled and the line went dead and he isn’t answering.”
Nate felt his gutt clench. “I’m on my way. I’ll have him call you.” He hung up, whatever had happened would need all his attention.
Eliot was (should be) in his apartment upstairs and Nate headed for the stairs, hitting the panic button on his cell-phone and putting his com in on his way out of the apartment.
He’d reached the top floor when Hardison came on the coms. “What’s happening?”
“Got a call from Eliot’s sister. She was on the phone with him when something happened. I’m checking his apartment.
Parker’s voice joined Hardison’s in saying. “We’ll meet you there.” A few moments later Sophie confirmed that she was on her way.
The front door was unlocked and Nate didn’t hesitate to enter. Anyone capable of catching Eliot off guard and taking him down would be long gone by now and any other situation wouldn’t require Nate to wait.
The apartment at first glance showed no sign of a struggle. The living room was as clean and well organized as ever. The bedroom door was closed, normal for Eliot, and the light in the kitchen was off.
There was no sign of struggle except for Eliot’s cell phone dropped in the middle of the floor and what looked like a pile of discarded blue jeans, a belt, and boxers.
Nate didn’t know what to make of that.
“Alpha!” A voice, high like a child’s and full of excitement, called out from the doorway to the kitchen. Nate turned in time to see a very small boy, roughly five years old, with long blonde hair and dressed only in an adult sized T-Shirt step out of the darkness before the boy turned into a blur of motion that launched itself at him.
It was all Nate could do to catch the flying five year old and not fall from the force of the impact.
The small child giggled and reached up, wrapping his arms around Nate’s neck either in a hug or as insurance against being put down. He *sniffed* Nate before settling his head against Nate’s collar-bone, something soft and furry tickling the underside of Nate’s chin.
Nate wasn’t sure whether he should call for Eliot, close his eyes and hope to wake up in a saner region, or give in to the strangeness that had invaded his building and ask the child it’s name.
“Alpha!” The boy said again, the word registering in Nate’s mind and forcing the question.
“Yes?” He asked, hoping the word came out sounding gentle despite his state of mind.
“Nothing. Just happy to see you.”
“That’s… very nice. Can you tell me your name?” Nate asked. “And if you’ve seen a man named Eliot around here?”
The boy didn’t answer right away, the hand that had been playing with the button on the front pocket of Nate’s shirt went still. The boy took a deep breath and shook his head. “Eliot… right…” He let out another breath. “Sorry Nate. Kinda lost my head a little. I… I’m not really sure what’s going on.”
Nate didn’t respond right away, the implications made his head throb.
But werewolves were real. Three times a month Eliot changed from human into a very large wolf.
What was to say getting turned into a hyperactive five year old was that much farther of a stretch?
Eliot had gone still in his arms for a moment but he was already starting to fidget with the pocket again.
“Eliot?” The hand stopped.
“Sorry I…” He shook himself a little. “It’s slippery. I remember being an adult. I remember…” His voice shook a little. “Everything… but. It slips away.” A small change in tone, like he was smiling that little grin of his when he was truly pleased by something and not even aware he was showing it. “An’ it’s like… kid stuff just perriffferer… perriff… fills up my head.”
He lowered his voice to a whisper and Nate could have almost sworn it sounded like Eliot was asking for permission for something when he said. “It’s kind of nice.”
Something in that quiet admission broke his heart a little bit.
“Hey, …Eliot? Do…” He tried to think of some way to phrase his question. “…do you think you might lose your adult self? If you stay too long?” It was a reasonable question. He needed to have some kind of time frame they were operating under. “are you still getting younger?”
Eliot shook his head, the hint of a furry sensation tickling Nate’s chin not for the first time. “One minute I’m big. The next I’m tiny.” He spread his arms out, like he was trying to re-emphasize how oversized the tee-shirt was. An embarrassed noise escaped him a moment later, probably his adult mind sinking up with the fact his adult lover was now holding his half naked five-year-old self and there was no end to the awkwardness here.
Well, except Nate didn’t really have time to deal with the awkward.
Eliot scrambled to be put down and Nate obliged him, setting the (now) young werewolf onto the floor and getting a clear picture of what the hell had been with the furry sensation. At first glance Nate had thought they were one of those head-bands but a shake of Eliot’s head revealed no.
Along with being a small child Eliot apparently had furry wolf ears.
Nate resolved to drink less, or more, whatever he needed to not have hallucinations this weird anymore.
Until he saw Eliot fussing with the tee-shirt, obviously enough of his adult mind present for his five year old self to become self conscious.
And probably royally freaked out.
On instinct Nate got down onto his knees, putting himself at eye level with Eliot. “Hey, we’re going to figure this out and fix it. Okay?”
“What are you gonna do Nate? Steal the… the… fountain of not-youth?“ Eliot glared, though the effect was ruined a moment later when he yawned wide like only little kids can, a single ear twitching slightly as he rubbed at his eyes with the opposite hand.
In that moment Eliot Spencer, one of the most terrifying people Nate had ever known even before being made into a werewolf, looked adorable.
“Why does Eliot have furry ears?“ The question came from the doorway, Parker standing just inside the doorway.
Hardison skid into the room a moment later. “Who turned Eliot into a munchkin?”
Eliot giving Hardison the bird was only matched as strange and disturbing sights by Parker’s giggle ten minutes later when she realized Eliot was now small enough to learn how to properly navigate a ventilation shaft.
It wasn’t much longer before Sophie arrived and they put their heads together to try to figure out what the hell had happened (or, rather, ‘what the heck‘. Much to Eliot’s annoyance the more often he slipped into acting his current age the more the others started to treat him like a small child).
Throughout the meeting Eliot stuck close to Nate, never straying more than a few feet away for more than he had to, settling onto the floor beside the chair Nate sat on when they moved down to the conference room.
It was in the gray pre-dawn hours when Nate registered a weight had been leaning against his leg for awhile and Eliot hadn’t interjected for quite some time. He looked down and found Eliot had drifted off.
He motioned to get Parker and Hardison’s attention (Sophie had left a little over a half hour ago to call back Josephine and see if any of her contacts knew *anything* about de-aging werewolves) motioning them into silence before reaching down and gently lifting the boy. His silent glance was met with nods, they’d wait here while Nate put Eliot to bed.
There had been times when Nate had truly thought he’d prepared for any contingency.
Hubris always bit him in the ass though because he had no plans for dealing with his beta and sometimes bed mate being turned into a five year old. Not to even mention sleeping (or living) arrangements.
Nate went with what he knew, what came instinctively as a father, carrying his exhausted team mate upstairs and settling him in Nate’s own bed, hand resting for a moment between two soft ears.
“You know Hardison is never going to let you live any of this down.” Nate whispered, reluctant to leave, and even more reluctant to try to identify why.
“He can try.” Eliot muttered, rolling onto his side without opening his eyes, and settling down without moving away from the contact. “I’ll kick him in the shins.”
“Get some sleep Eliot.” Nate told him softly. “There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.”
“Get some sleep Sam.” Nate told him softly. “There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.”
“’night Alpha.“ Eliot muttered before slipping fully back to sleep, snuggling deeper into Nate’s pillow, tiny hand reaching out to grab hold of Sophie’s.
It was quite some time before Nate could make himself return to the rest of the team.
oOo
“It’s been four days Nathan. I appreciate you taking care of him but I still am waiting for some explanation of what exactly happened to make my big brother half the age of my son.”
Nate sigh and sat down at the counter, looking across the room to where Sophie and Parker were teaming up to entertain the five year old.
The last four days had been full of small discoveries and subtle changes.
Sophie had come back the first morning with a few small outfits, enough for the next few days but no more, a couple of coloring books and crayons.
They didn’t know, didn’t want to admit, they could be in this for the long haul and anything more would have been a surrender.
Eliot had gratefully picked out of the selection a navy blue tee-shirt and blue jeans, gave Sophie a glare that was not in any way adorable at the coloring books, and sat down on the couch growling for Hardison to run it.
Yesterday, when Sophie had told him she was getting him some more clothes and things Eliot had looked up from the picture of a T-Rex he was carefully coloring bright blue and asked if she could get him a pair of shoes, shyly requesting batman on them.
Nate had realized a number of things in that moment. Eliot’s adult mind had lost ground (or, he thought remembering the soft ‘it’s kind of nice’ admittance, was surrendering to the child). Sophie wasn’t as bad with kids as his initial reading had been, she just needed practice where she wasn’t worried she’d scar the child for life.
And seeing Eliot this age didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had the first night.
When Sophie had come back with not only bat man sneakers but also a bat man tee-shirt and black pants Eliot had insisted on immediately changing and then had proceeded to run around the condo, jumping over furniture, climbing up onto the counter (and Nate knew he’d have to confiscate the pictures Hardison took or when Eliot went back to normal Hardison was going to find himself with more than just kicked shins).
That was also around the time they all realized middle of winter or not Eliot obviously needed to get outside and run around a playground a little while.
Even if none of them knew how they were going to mask the fact their five year old charge had wolf ears. Or how he managed to walk on his hands the length of the countertop. (By then they’d already discovered the hard way werewolf pups were stronger than the average adult male human and about as agile as Parker, though they were still getting used to Eliot actually showing his increased abilities. Though they were all collectively glad werewolf pups were apparently even closer to indestructible than the adults).
A playground at dusk had been their (best) solution, the entire team taking a break from trying to solve the problem to join the foray.
Nate knew, whatever happened, the memory of watching his hitter, hacker, and thief chase each other across an empty playground in a game of Don’t Touch the Ground Tag that Hardison had been doomed to lose from the start like they all were children, their faces lit up with laughter, not wanting to stop even when the sun had long gone down and their breath was coming out in little clouds from the cold…
It didn’t fill, didn’t heal, the still open wound of Sam. But the pain at it being Christmas lessened just a little.
And he remembered watching as Parker and Hardison reluctantly returned to him and Sophie, seeming to suddenly remember their ages and histories and rap sheets.
And there, perched at the top of the highest point of the playground, Eliot still sat with gold colored eyes fixed on the moon in the sky.
The final night of the change had been the night before Eliot De-age so they still had a few weeks left before they would have to worry about that but Nate silently prayed they’d find the answer before then.
He didn’t want to hear, to see, to *know*, this version of Eliot going through the change.
“Eliot?” He called across the playground, watching those eyes turn to him and return to their usual, brilliant, blue. “Come here. We need to go home.”
Eliot gave a small sigh and nodded, slipping forward off the perch, Nate’s heart briefly clenching despite the fact he knew the six foot drop was nothing to the young werewolf, landing softly and running to meet them.
“Can we come back tomorrow alpha?” He asked quietly, eye’s on the ground in front of Nate’s feet. Nate wasn’t sure if the way Eliot acted toward him and Sophie, like a child’s attempt to mimic the formalized submission to an alpha Eliot sometimes accidentally slipped into around the full moon, was natural for a werewolf pup or if there was some other reason.
He wasn’t sure which one he hoped for.
“I know Josephine.” Nate said, coming back to the present, watching the little boy laugh brightly when Parker unfolded her piece of paper to reveal a (rather bizarre looking) paper snowflake. “But we’ve tried every contact we have no one knows anything. Even Hardison’s werewolf hacker friend doesn’t have any ideas about how this could happen.”
Silence on Josephine’s end for a moment before she stated. “Would you have an easier time of it without him around?”
“What?”
Josephine let out a noise that sounded like a somewhat uncomfortable cough (or maybe just a regular one, it was cold and flu season and she had two kids). “Maybe one of you could bring him down here and I could look after him?”
The offer was unusual. Not to even mention the fact that she’d have a hell of a time explain everything to her kids and husband there was the fact Eliot had made it very clear to her and the team they weren’t to come within a hundred miles of each other. The team had been understanding, she was his little sister and had two young children. Keeping her safe was hard enough without his team (and known associates) flitting through her life.
Eliot looked up sharply across the room, confirming Nate’s theory that he could hear both sides of their conversation, his eyes wide and gold. Sophie asked him what was wrong and the pup pulled himself up onto her lap, hunching around himself. Sophie read the body language easily enough and hugged him close.
They’d been dealing with Werewolf-Eliot for long enough Nate felt he mostly understood. Werewolves, especially beta wolves like Eliot were hard wired to look to their alphas for guidance and protection. While in his normal state the later might not be a necessity for Eliot as he was now…
They’d already realized his tendency to call them ‘alpha’ wasn’t so different from a child calling a parent mom or dad.
“I think we should keep him here. We‘ve gotten the hang of it by now I think.”
Nate said, heading for the stairs. He wanted to have this conversation in private. Though out of the corner of his eye he could see Eliot relax.
“Nate… it’s not that I don’t think you can take care of him it’s just…” Her voice faltered a little. Nate waited, reaching his room and closing the door. “It’s less than a month until Christmas. I- I don’t know what my brother’s told you about our childhood but… He always did what he could to make Christmas Special for me, even if no one else did.”
“And you want to do what you can to pay him back?” Nate guessed. It made a weird sort of sense. Josephine’s silence spoke volumes.
He glanced back toward the door. “He’s scared right now. I don’t know how much of his adult mind is holding on but enough is left in his subconscious that he knows that it’s not monsters under the bed that he should be afraid of. Because of the werewolf thing he‘s hardwired to find protection from us.”
“And he hardwired himself to protect me. I get it.” Josephine stated, sounding frustrated. “I just want Christmas for my brother.”
“I think we can manage that.”
oOo
“Alpha, alpha!” Small hands on his shoulder, the weight that normally stayed settled between him and Sophie was shifting, her side of the bed empty entirely. “Wake up!”
He smile and rolled over, pretending to be asleep still, pulling the blanket over his head.
There was a squeal of mock infuriated laughter as the tiny hands tugged at the blanket now. “Alpha!” A voice whined. “Wake up!”
He let go of the blanket in time for the last tug, feeling the small body tumble backwards on the bed with it. He sat up, dramatically rubbing his eyes. “What is it El?”
“It’s Christmas!” The boy practically shouted. “And Alpha won’t let me go down until you’re awake!” Nate stretched and swung his legs out of bed, making a show of stretching until Eliot pelted him with a pillow. “I know you don’t take this long to wake up!” He said with a growl that sounded almost like his usual self.
Nate smiled at the boy, glad at least he seemed to be getting the hang of not being formal with Nate all the time, though with more than a week since the full moon maybe the instinct was just fading. “Alright, alright I’m awake.”
Sophie poked her head in the door, already dressed as impeccably as usual. “Good. The others are waiting for you two.”
Nate glanced down. Eliot had become a permanent fixture in their bed after the second night they’d tried to bed him down in the couch downstairs had ended with him screaming in his sleep from a nightmare.
He still had nightmares more nights than he didn’t, the words said and screamed into the dark evidence that while his adult mind and personality may have been suppressed by this child version the memories were still in there somewhere.
But it did mean that Nate’s bed clothes could be worn in front of the team so he wouldn’t have to delay them further.
Without hesitating further he nodded for Eliot to go ahead and followed the little boy out the door and down the stairs.
The main room of the apartment had been transformed over the past week.
Parker, released from her duties for the team, had spent most of the time decorating and getting things ready. They’d taken a day off their (now nightly) dusk trips to the playground to go out and get a tree together and she’d decorated it in her normal fashion, regaling Eliot with tales of her exploits to steal each piece. Lights were strung all around, and decorations, tinsel. Three days ago she and Eliot had sat down after lunch to make strings of cranberries and popcorn to decorate the windows. By afternoon’s end all five of them had been settled around the bowls and string, attempting to get more on the strings than broken or in their stomachs.
Even now Nate could see birds settled on the windowsill enjoying the treat.
Eliot ran first to the now empty plate where they’d left the milk and cookies out the night before turning wide excited eyes toward first Nate then Parker.
Yeah. Nate was pretty sure Eliot’s werewolf senses meant he’d either heard her coming over the night or could smell her on the glass and presents now but enough of big Eliot lingered that he probably already knew Santa Clause wasn’t real and could appreciate the finesse of how well she’d played Santa.
And there were presents. Brightly colored boxes and packages of all shapes and sizes filled the space beneath the tree. There were presents from the team to each other, true, but most were for this Eliot.
Truth was they didn’t know how long he’d be like this. It had been almost two weeks now and he was more firmly planted at this age than ever. They’d delayed getting more than they needed to deal with the now but they were ready to invest for the long haul and it showed in the gifts.
There were toys. Stuffed animals and a pogo stick came from Parker (though the last was a surprise to Nate and Sophie as well). An x-box with semi age appropriate games were from Hardison (they’d learned by then he retained enough of his knowledge to be a good deal beyond learning-games but shied away from violence even in movies). Toys for playing pretend like a cowboy hat, fake cooking toys, and a “doctor” set from Sophie. Nate in turn supplied lego sets (which he’d already resigned himself to stepping on accidentally at least once a week for however long Eliot was little) and books (as far as they could tell Eliot could read as well as a fourth or fifth grader, though like his mindset in general it had taken a few days to settle at that level).
There were other things. A backpack and clothes, dishware and utensils more suited to small hands, and more clothes, but they were left to the side, predictably uninteresting to a small child.
They watched carefully wrapped paper and bows go flying, the small boy excitedly showing them each gift unwrapped, testing it out before someone reminded him there were still more things to be unwrapped.
There were only a few gifts left when Eliot stood up heading for the kitchen, not answering their inquires as he dug around one of the lower cabinets.
He came back with an arm load of packages clumsily wrapped in coloring book pages.
Presents for them.
He handed them out one by one explaining. “Got ‘em for you before… Was going to just leave ‘em for you to find but…” He kept his head down as he delivered the last of the packages.
Hardison opened his to find an already opened box set of Firefly on DVD and the Serenity Movie. Eliot let out a breath and said. “I was going to say about how now *someone* will understand when you make a Firefly joke but I can’t really remember much about it anymore.” He looked up. “We can watch ‘em again together? An’ you can warn me when…” He didn’t add when it was going to get scary. He still had some pride, but it was implied.
Hardison’s eyes got wide and it looked like he wanted to hug Eliot, and probably would have still wanted to hug the man. As it was Hardison stumbled for some kind of answer. Nate had a feeling the show might have in general been a bit much for a five year old.
Parker opened her gift and let out a soft squeal of delight showing everyone it had contained a couple dozen bills of high value from around the world. “You even have Franks!” She said examining the bill. “They’re out of circulation!”
Eliot grinned, though still giving her a look. “I still think there’s something wrong with you.”
He turned to Sophie and Nate. “You have to open your presents at the same time.”
They did, careful to not tear the wrapping, each finding a dark blue velvet jewelry box.
Inside were small steel medallions on steel chains, polished bright to look like silver.
Designed to look like a full moon.
Nate reached out, picking up the boy and settling him between Sophie and him, each placing a single chaste kiss on the top of their beta’s head.
oOo
The day passed in a daze of celebration and the kids (all three of them) playing with their new toys.
Long after night fell Hardison and Parker drifted out to their own places elsewhere in the building. At bedtime Nate found Eliot sitting at the upstairs window, looking out to the now nearly absent moon.
“What is it?” Nate asked.
“I’m thanking the moon.” Eliot answered. “Or Santa. Or whoever.”
“For what?”
Eliot turned back to Nate, a soft, carefree smile on his face, the light in his eyes brighter than Nate had ever hoped to see on that face. “For getting my Christmas Wish.”
When Nate asked what it was Eliot just laughed and told him it was a secret, and if he told it would stop coming true.
oOo
The next few days passed uneventfully. Eliot seemed to finish regressing, the slight changes stopping and settling into his new life. He played and laughed and chased after Parker and Hardison when they went out to play.
Nate and Sophie began to plan for the long term, looking again for new clients, trying to decide if they should think about how to send Eliot to school (and what to do about the obvious and more subtle signs that he was in no way a normal five year old), addressing the big and small pictures of how to once again adjust their lives.
They didn’t make any permanent plans, but it felt like life was in fact moving forward.
On December 31st Eliot was withdrawn in the morning. He claimed he wasn’t getting sick but he seemed a little lethargic, his laughter a hint muted, his smiles not as bright.
In the afternoon he was halfway through the book he was reading when he put it down and went upstairs seeming… frustrated.
Sad.
Nate wondered what it meant, fear sinking into the pit of his stomach and staying.
He followed the boy upstairs, finding him sitting at the same window, just barely catching him looking out the window saying. “I understand, just a little longer… Please.” Nate wanted to retreat but Eliot tensed then, realizing Nate was there, and turned. “I…”
“It’s alright.” Nate said, softly. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Eliot stood up and walked over to Nate motioning for him to bend over, whispering in his ear, his voice soft and almost sad. “When I was talking to Joey, I heard… I just. I wished for… for this.” He took a step back but his eyes were on the floor again like he’d done something wrong. “I was hurting and sad an’ scared and I just… for one second wished I could just be a kid again and not have to worry ‘bout prices on my head or the full moon or who wants to kill me this week or protecting the team or everything I did. Only for a second. I don’t…”
“It’s okay.” Nate said. Not understanding, not knowing, but wanting to just stop the scared tumble of words and make Eliot understand he wasn't going to be blamed for this. As much as he hated it he’d already allowed for the fact this whole thing might be something he had no explanation for.
And Eliot looked like he was about to cry.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t mean for this to happen and I’m telling you not one of us is mad. You weren’t the only one who got a gift through this.”
Eliot hugged himself and looked up, eyes darker than they had been for awhile. “It’s coming back.” He said softly, painfully. “Everything is coming back. I think… I think I don’t have much longer before I’m big again.”
Nate let out a small sigh. It would be good to have their retrieval specialist back. Good to have their Eliot back.
But he would miss this Eliot. They all would.
“Then we’ll make the best of what time you have left, and when you’re big again we’ll welcome that you back to us.” He picked the boy up, holding him close like he had that first night and all the days since, saying words he would have thought not possible for him even a year ago. “Big or small we love you.”
oOo
Nate woke slowly, but even half awake he knew something was different, as his mind climbed out of sleep he recognized what it was.
They had known the time was close. The last few days had been like the first few in rewind. Big Eliot coming slowly but surely back to the surface.
Nate turned and opened his eyes, finding himself staring into Eliot’s. His adult body a barrier between Nate and Sophie.
He looked tired, disoriented, like he’d just woken up in more ways than one.
The room around them was still dark with night, only lit by the almost full moon outside their window.
“Go back to sleep.” Sophie’s voice whispered in the darkness and Eliot turned to look toward her.
Nate settled a hand on Eliot shoulder. “Relax, rest. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow.” Eliot glanced back toward him, seeming like he hadn’t quite re found his voice yet, still was trying to adjust to the change back in their dynamic. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need.”
Eliot closed his eyes and Nate sat up just enough to meet Sophie’s.
A lot had changed in the past month, and a lot would need addressing. It would take time.
But this much, the three of them, the team, together, would last.
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg
Genre: Werewolf!Eliot, Wee!Werewolf!Eliot, implied Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Verse: Phases of the Moon
Summary: Christmas brings an unexpected gift.
Notes: My last Christmas Ficcing of Joy fic for this year, written for Deanangst who asked for my PotM Eliot getting Deaged for Christmas.
It had been just after midnight when Nate’s cell rang.
He’d been sitting in the kitchen (in the dark) contemplating the pros and cons of getting drunk enough to forget that it was going to be Christmas very soon and he should be spending it with Maggie and Sam and…
He was just getting started when his cell phone rang, his voice not even a hint slurred when he answered it.
“Nathan Ford?” The panicked voice was female with an oddly familiar twang.
“Yes?”
“I… I’m Eliot’s sister, Josephine.” That might explain the twang. “I was on the phone with him just a minute ago when there was a crash and he yelled and the line went dead and he isn’t answering.”
Nate felt his gutt clench. “I’m on my way. I’ll have him call you.” He hung up, whatever had happened would need all his attention.
Eliot was (should be) in his apartment upstairs and Nate headed for the stairs, hitting the panic button on his cell-phone and putting his com in on his way out of the apartment.
He’d reached the top floor when Hardison came on the coms. “What’s happening?”
“Got a call from Eliot’s sister. She was on the phone with him when something happened. I’m checking his apartment.
Parker’s voice joined Hardison’s in saying. “We’ll meet you there.” A few moments later Sophie confirmed that she was on her way.
The front door was unlocked and Nate didn’t hesitate to enter. Anyone capable of catching Eliot off guard and taking him down would be long gone by now and any other situation wouldn’t require Nate to wait.
The apartment at first glance showed no sign of a struggle. The living room was as clean and well organized as ever. The bedroom door was closed, normal for Eliot, and the light in the kitchen was off.
There was no sign of struggle except for Eliot’s cell phone dropped in the middle of the floor and what looked like a pile of discarded blue jeans, a belt, and boxers.
Nate didn’t know what to make of that.
“Alpha!” A voice, high like a child’s and full of excitement, called out from the doorway to the kitchen. Nate turned in time to see a very small boy, roughly five years old, with long blonde hair and dressed only in an adult sized T-Shirt step out of the darkness before the boy turned into a blur of motion that launched itself at him.
It was all Nate could do to catch the flying five year old and not fall from the force of the impact.
The small child giggled and reached up, wrapping his arms around Nate’s neck either in a hug or as insurance against being put down. He *sniffed* Nate before settling his head against Nate’s collar-bone, something soft and furry tickling the underside of Nate’s chin.
Nate wasn’t sure whether he should call for Eliot, close his eyes and hope to wake up in a saner region, or give in to the strangeness that had invaded his building and ask the child it’s name.
“Alpha!” The boy said again, the word registering in Nate’s mind and forcing the question.
“Yes?” He asked, hoping the word came out sounding gentle despite his state of mind.
“Nothing. Just happy to see you.”
“That’s… very nice. Can you tell me your name?” Nate asked. “And if you’ve seen a man named Eliot around here?”
The boy didn’t answer right away, the hand that had been playing with the button on the front pocket of Nate’s shirt went still. The boy took a deep breath and shook his head. “Eliot… right…” He let out another breath. “Sorry Nate. Kinda lost my head a little. I… I’m not really sure what’s going on.”
Nate didn’t respond right away, the implications made his head throb.
But werewolves were real. Three times a month Eliot changed from human into a very large wolf.
What was to say getting turned into a hyperactive five year old was that much farther of a stretch?
Eliot had gone still in his arms for a moment but he was already starting to fidget with the pocket again.
“Eliot?” The hand stopped.
“Sorry I…” He shook himself a little. “It’s slippery. I remember being an adult. I remember…” His voice shook a little. “Everything… but. It slips away.” A small change in tone, like he was smiling that little grin of his when he was truly pleased by something and not even aware he was showing it. “An’ it’s like… kid stuff just perriffferer… perriff… fills up my head.”
He lowered his voice to a whisper and Nate could have almost sworn it sounded like Eliot was asking for permission for something when he said. “It’s kind of nice.”
Something in that quiet admission broke his heart a little bit.
“Hey, …Eliot? Do…” He tried to think of some way to phrase his question. “…do you think you might lose your adult self? If you stay too long?” It was a reasonable question. He needed to have some kind of time frame they were operating under. “are you still getting younger?”
Eliot shook his head, the hint of a furry sensation tickling Nate’s chin not for the first time. “One minute I’m big. The next I’m tiny.” He spread his arms out, like he was trying to re-emphasize how oversized the tee-shirt was. An embarrassed noise escaped him a moment later, probably his adult mind sinking up with the fact his adult lover was now holding his half naked five-year-old self and there was no end to the awkwardness here.
Well, except Nate didn’t really have time to deal with the awkward.
Eliot scrambled to be put down and Nate obliged him, setting the (now) young werewolf onto the floor and getting a clear picture of what the hell had been with the furry sensation. At first glance Nate had thought they were one of those head-bands but a shake of Eliot’s head revealed no.
Along with being a small child Eliot apparently had furry wolf ears.
Nate resolved to drink less, or more, whatever he needed to not have hallucinations this weird anymore.
Until he saw Eliot fussing with the tee-shirt, obviously enough of his adult mind present for his five year old self to become self conscious.
And probably royally freaked out.
On instinct Nate got down onto his knees, putting himself at eye level with Eliot. “Hey, we’re going to figure this out and fix it. Okay?”
“What are you gonna do Nate? Steal the… the… fountain of not-youth?“ Eliot glared, though the effect was ruined a moment later when he yawned wide like only little kids can, a single ear twitching slightly as he rubbed at his eyes with the opposite hand.
In that moment Eliot Spencer, one of the most terrifying people Nate had ever known even before being made into a werewolf, looked adorable.
“Why does Eliot have furry ears?“ The question came from the doorway, Parker standing just inside the doorway.
Hardison skid into the room a moment later. “Who turned Eliot into a munchkin?”
Eliot giving Hardison the bird was only matched as strange and disturbing sights by Parker’s giggle ten minutes later when she realized Eliot was now small enough to learn how to properly navigate a ventilation shaft.
It wasn’t much longer before Sophie arrived and they put their heads together to try to figure out what the hell had happened (or, rather, ‘what the heck‘. Much to Eliot’s annoyance the more often he slipped into acting his current age the more the others started to treat him like a small child).
Throughout the meeting Eliot stuck close to Nate, never straying more than a few feet away for more than he had to, settling onto the floor beside the chair Nate sat on when they moved down to the conference room.
It was in the gray pre-dawn hours when Nate registered a weight had been leaning against his leg for awhile and Eliot hadn’t interjected for quite some time. He looked down and found Eliot had drifted off.
He motioned to get Parker and Hardison’s attention (Sophie had left a little over a half hour ago to call back Josephine and see if any of her contacts knew *anything* about de-aging werewolves) motioning them into silence before reaching down and gently lifting the boy. His silent glance was met with nods, they’d wait here while Nate put Eliot to bed.
There had been times when Nate had truly thought he’d prepared for any contingency.
Hubris always bit him in the ass though because he had no plans for dealing with his beta and sometimes bed mate being turned into a five year old. Not to even mention sleeping (or living) arrangements.
Nate went with what he knew, what came instinctively as a father, carrying his exhausted team mate upstairs and settling him in Nate’s own bed, hand resting for a moment between two soft ears.
“You know Hardison is never going to let you live any of this down.” Nate whispered, reluctant to leave, and even more reluctant to try to identify why.
“He can try.” Eliot muttered, rolling onto his side without opening his eyes, and settling down without moving away from the contact. “I’ll kick him in the shins.”
“Get some sleep Eliot.” Nate told him softly. “There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.”
“Get some sleep Sam.” Nate told him softly. “There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.”
“’night Alpha.“ Eliot muttered before slipping fully back to sleep, snuggling deeper into Nate’s pillow, tiny hand reaching out to grab hold of Sophie’s.
It was quite some time before Nate could make himself return to the rest of the team.
oOo
“It’s been four days Nathan. I appreciate you taking care of him but I still am waiting for some explanation of what exactly happened to make my big brother half the age of my son.”
Nate sigh and sat down at the counter, looking across the room to where Sophie and Parker were teaming up to entertain the five year old.
The last four days had been full of small discoveries and subtle changes.
Sophie had come back the first morning with a few small outfits, enough for the next few days but no more, a couple of coloring books and crayons.
They didn’t know, didn’t want to admit, they could be in this for the long haul and anything more would have been a surrender.
Eliot had gratefully picked out of the selection a navy blue tee-shirt and blue jeans, gave Sophie a glare that was not in any way adorable at the coloring books, and sat down on the couch growling for Hardison to run it.
Yesterday, when Sophie had told him she was getting him some more clothes and things Eliot had looked up from the picture of a T-Rex he was carefully coloring bright blue and asked if she could get him a pair of shoes, shyly requesting batman on them.
Nate had realized a number of things in that moment. Eliot’s adult mind had lost ground (or, he thought remembering the soft ‘it’s kind of nice’ admittance, was surrendering to the child). Sophie wasn’t as bad with kids as his initial reading had been, she just needed practice where she wasn’t worried she’d scar the child for life.
And seeing Eliot this age didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had the first night.
When Sophie had come back with not only bat man sneakers but also a bat man tee-shirt and black pants Eliot had insisted on immediately changing and then had proceeded to run around the condo, jumping over furniture, climbing up onto the counter (and Nate knew he’d have to confiscate the pictures Hardison took or when Eliot went back to normal Hardison was going to find himself with more than just kicked shins).
That was also around the time they all realized middle of winter or not Eliot obviously needed to get outside and run around a playground a little while.
Even if none of them knew how they were going to mask the fact their five year old charge had wolf ears. Or how he managed to walk on his hands the length of the countertop. (By then they’d already discovered the hard way werewolf pups were stronger than the average adult male human and about as agile as Parker, though they were still getting used to Eliot actually showing his increased abilities. Though they were all collectively glad werewolf pups were apparently even closer to indestructible than the adults).
A playground at dusk had been their (best) solution, the entire team taking a break from trying to solve the problem to join the foray.
Nate knew, whatever happened, the memory of watching his hitter, hacker, and thief chase each other across an empty playground in a game of Don’t Touch the Ground Tag that Hardison had been doomed to lose from the start like they all were children, their faces lit up with laughter, not wanting to stop even when the sun had long gone down and their breath was coming out in little clouds from the cold…
It didn’t fill, didn’t heal, the still open wound of Sam. But the pain at it being Christmas lessened just a little.
And he remembered watching as Parker and Hardison reluctantly returned to him and Sophie, seeming to suddenly remember their ages and histories and rap sheets.
And there, perched at the top of the highest point of the playground, Eliot still sat with gold colored eyes fixed on the moon in the sky.
The final night of the change had been the night before Eliot De-age so they still had a few weeks left before they would have to worry about that but Nate silently prayed they’d find the answer before then.
He didn’t want to hear, to see, to *know*, this version of Eliot going through the change.
“Eliot?” He called across the playground, watching those eyes turn to him and return to their usual, brilliant, blue. “Come here. We need to go home.”
Eliot gave a small sigh and nodded, slipping forward off the perch, Nate’s heart briefly clenching despite the fact he knew the six foot drop was nothing to the young werewolf, landing softly and running to meet them.
“Can we come back tomorrow alpha?” He asked quietly, eye’s on the ground in front of Nate’s feet. Nate wasn’t sure if the way Eliot acted toward him and Sophie, like a child’s attempt to mimic the formalized submission to an alpha Eliot sometimes accidentally slipped into around the full moon, was natural for a werewolf pup or if there was some other reason.
He wasn’t sure which one he hoped for.
“I know Josephine.” Nate said, coming back to the present, watching the little boy laugh brightly when Parker unfolded her piece of paper to reveal a (rather bizarre looking) paper snowflake. “But we’ve tried every contact we have no one knows anything. Even Hardison’s werewolf hacker friend doesn’t have any ideas about how this could happen.”
Silence on Josephine’s end for a moment before she stated. “Would you have an easier time of it without him around?”
“What?”
Josephine let out a noise that sounded like a somewhat uncomfortable cough (or maybe just a regular one, it was cold and flu season and she had two kids). “Maybe one of you could bring him down here and I could look after him?”
The offer was unusual. Not to even mention the fact that she’d have a hell of a time explain everything to her kids and husband there was the fact Eliot had made it very clear to her and the team they weren’t to come within a hundred miles of each other. The team had been understanding, she was his little sister and had two young children. Keeping her safe was hard enough without his team (and known associates) flitting through her life.
Eliot looked up sharply across the room, confirming Nate’s theory that he could hear both sides of their conversation, his eyes wide and gold. Sophie asked him what was wrong and the pup pulled himself up onto her lap, hunching around himself. Sophie read the body language easily enough and hugged him close.
They’d been dealing with Werewolf-Eliot for long enough Nate felt he mostly understood. Werewolves, especially beta wolves like Eliot were hard wired to look to their alphas for guidance and protection. While in his normal state the later might not be a necessity for Eliot as he was now…
They’d already realized his tendency to call them ‘alpha’ wasn’t so different from a child calling a parent mom or dad.
“I think we should keep him here. We‘ve gotten the hang of it by now I think.”
Nate said, heading for the stairs. He wanted to have this conversation in private. Though out of the corner of his eye he could see Eliot relax.
“Nate… it’s not that I don’t think you can take care of him it’s just…” Her voice faltered a little. Nate waited, reaching his room and closing the door. “It’s less than a month until Christmas. I- I don’t know what my brother’s told you about our childhood but… He always did what he could to make Christmas Special for me, even if no one else did.”
“And you want to do what you can to pay him back?” Nate guessed. It made a weird sort of sense. Josephine’s silence spoke volumes.
He glanced back toward the door. “He’s scared right now. I don’t know how much of his adult mind is holding on but enough is left in his subconscious that he knows that it’s not monsters under the bed that he should be afraid of. Because of the werewolf thing he‘s hardwired to find protection from us.”
“And he hardwired himself to protect me. I get it.” Josephine stated, sounding frustrated. “I just want Christmas for my brother.”
“I think we can manage that.”
oOo
“Alpha, alpha!” Small hands on his shoulder, the weight that normally stayed settled between him and Sophie was shifting, her side of the bed empty entirely. “Wake up!”
He smile and rolled over, pretending to be asleep still, pulling the blanket over his head.
There was a squeal of mock infuriated laughter as the tiny hands tugged at the blanket now. “Alpha!” A voice whined. “Wake up!”
He let go of the blanket in time for the last tug, feeling the small body tumble backwards on the bed with it. He sat up, dramatically rubbing his eyes. “What is it El?”
“It’s Christmas!” The boy practically shouted. “And Alpha won’t let me go down until you’re awake!” Nate stretched and swung his legs out of bed, making a show of stretching until Eliot pelted him with a pillow. “I know you don’t take this long to wake up!” He said with a growl that sounded almost like his usual self.
Nate smiled at the boy, glad at least he seemed to be getting the hang of not being formal with Nate all the time, though with more than a week since the full moon maybe the instinct was just fading. “Alright, alright I’m awake.”
Sophie poked her head in the door, already dressed as impeccably as usual. “Good. The others are waiting for you two.”
Nate glanced down. Eliot had become a permanent fixture in their bed after the second night they’d tried to bed him down in the couch downstairs had ended with him screaming in his sleep from a nightmare.
He still had nightmares more nights than he didn’t, the words said and screamed into the dark evidence that while his adult mind and personality may have been suppressed by this child version the memories were still in there somewhere.
But it did mean that Nate’s bed clothes could be worn in front of the team so he wouldn’t have to delay them further.
Without hesitating further he nodded for Eliot to go ahead and followed the little boy out the door and down the stairs.
The main room of the apartment had been transformed over the past week.
Parker, released from her duties for the team, had spent most of the time decorating and getting things ready. They’d taken a day off their (now nightly) dusk trips to the playground to go out and get a tree together and she’d decorated it in her normal fashion, regaling Eliot with tales of her exploits to steal each piece. Lights were strung all around, and decorations, tinsel. Three days ago she and Eliot had sat down after lunch to make strings of cranberries and popcorn to decorate the windows. By afternoon’s end all five of them had been settled around the bowls and string, attempting to get more on the strings than broken or in their stomachs.
Even now Nate could see birds settled on the windowsill enjoying the treat.
Eliot ran first to the now empty plate where they’d left the milk and cookies out the night before turning wide excited eyes toward first Nate then Parker.
Yeah. Nate was pretty sure Eliot’s werewolf senses meant he’d either heard her coming over the night or could smell her on the glass and presents now but enough of big Eliot lingered that he probably already knew Santa Clause wasn’t real and could appreciate the finesse of how well she’d played Santa.
And there were presents. Brightly colored boxes and packages of all shapes and sizes filled the space beneath the tree. There were presents from the team to each other, true, but most were for this Eliot.
Truth was they didn’t know how long he’d be like this. It had been almost two weeks now and he was more firmly planted at this age than ever. They’d delayed getting more than they needed to deal with the now but they were ready to invest for the long haul and it showed in the gifts.
There were toys. Stuffed animals and a pogo stick came from Parker (though the last was a surprise to Nate and Sophie as well). An x-box with semi age appropriate games were from Hardison (they’d learned by then he retained enough of his knowledge to be a good deal beyond learning-games but shied away from violence even in movies). Toys for playing pretend like a cowboy hat, fake cooking toys, and a “doctor” set from Sophie. Nate in turn supplied lego sets (which he’d already resigned himself to stepping on accidentally at least once a week for however long Eliot was little) and books (as far as they could tell Eliot could read as well as a fourth or fifth grader, though like his mindset in general it had taken a few days to settle at that level).
There were other things. A backpack and clothes, dishware and utensils more suited to small hands, and more clothes, but they were left to the side, predictably uninteresting to a small child.
They watched carefully wrapped paper and bows go flying, the small boy excitedly showing them each gift unwrapped, testing it out before someone reminded him there were still more things to be unwrapped.
There were only a few gifts left when Eliot stood up heading for the kitchen, not answering their inquires as he dug around one of the lower cabinets.
He came back with an arm load of packages clumsily wrapped in coloring book pages.
Presents for them.
He handed them out one by one explaining. “Got ‘em for you before… Was going to just leave ‘em for you to find but…” He kept his head down as he delivered the last of the packages.
Hardison opened his to find an already opened box set of Firefly on DVD and the Serenity Movie. Eliot let out a breath and said. “I was going to say about how now *someone* will understand when you make a Firefly joke but I can’t really remember much about it anymore.” He looked up. “We can watch ‘em again together? An’ you can warn me when…” He didn’t add when it was going to get scary. He still had some pride, but it was implied.
Hardison’s eyes got wide and it looked like he wanted to hug Eliot, and probably would have still wanted to hug the man. As it was Hardison stumbled for some kind of answer. Nate had a feeling the show might have in general been a bit much for a five year old.
Parker opened her gift and let out a soft squeal of delight showing everyone it had contained a couple dozen bills of high value from around the world. “You even have Franks!” She said examining the bill. “They’re out of circulation!”
Eliot grinned, though still giving her a look. “I still think there’s something wrong with you.”
He turned to Sophie and Nate. “You have to open your presents at the same time.”
They did, careful to not tear the wrapping, each finding a dark blue velvet jewelry box.
Inside were small steel medallions on steel chains, polished bright to look like silver.
Designed to look like a full moon.
Nate reached out, picking up the boy and settling him between Sophie and him, each placing a single chaste kiss on the top of their beta’s head.
oOo
The day passed in a daze of celebration and the kids (all three of them) playing with their new toys.
Long after night fell Hardison and Parker drifted out to their own places elsewhere in the building. At bedtime Nate found Eliot sitting at the upstairs window, looking out to the now nearly absent moon.
“What is it?” Nate asked.
“I’m thanking the moon.” Eliot answered. “Or Santa. Or whoever.”
“For what?”
Eliot turned back to Nate, a soft, carefree smile on his face, the light in his eyes brighter than Nate had ever hoped to see on that face. “For getting my Christmas Wish.”
When Nate asked what it was Eliot just laughed and told him it was a secret, and if he told it would stop coming true.
oOo
The next few days passed uneventfully. Eliot seemed to finish regressing, the slight changes stopping and settling into his new life. He played and laughed and chased after Parker and Hardison when they went out to play.
Nate and Sophie began to plan for the long term, looking again for new clients, trying to decide if they should think about how to send Eliot to school (and what to do about the obvious and more subtle signs that he was in no way a normal five year old), addressing the big and small pictures of how to once again adjust their lives.
They didn’t make any permanent plans, but it felt like life was in fact moving forward.
On December 31st Eliot was withdrawn in the morning. He claimed he wasn’t getting sick but he seemed a little lethargic, his laughter a hint muted, his smiles not as bright.
In the afternoon he was halfway through the book he was reading when he put it down and went upstairs seeming… frustrated.
Sad.
Nate wondered what it meant, fear sinking into the pit of his stomach and staying.
He followed the boy upstairs, finding him sitting at the same window, just barely catching him looking out the window saying. “I understand, just a little longer… Please.” Nate wanted to retreat but Eliot tensed then, realizing Nate was there, and turned. “I…”
“It’s alright.” Nate said, softly. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Eliot stood up and walked over to Nate motioning for him to bend over, whispering in his ear, his voice soft and almost sad. “When I was talking to Joey, I heard… I just. I wished for… for this.” He took a step back but his eyes were on the floor again like he’d done something wrong. “I was hurting and sad an’ scared and I just… for one second wished I could just be a kid again and not have to worry ‘bout prices on my head or the full moon or who wants to kill me this week or protecting the team or everything I did. Only for a second. I don’t…”
“It’s okay.” Nate said. Not understanding, not knowing, but wanting to just stop the scared tumble of words and make Eliot understand he wasn't going to be blamed for this. As much as he hated it he’d already allowed for the fact this whole thing might be something he had no explanation for.
And Eliot looked like he was about to cry.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t mean for this to happen and I’m telling you not one of us is mad. You weren’t the only one who got a gift through this.”
Eliot hugged himself and looked up, eyes darker than they had been for awhile. “It’s coming back.” He said softly, painfully. “Everything is coming back. I think… I think I don’t have much longer before I’m big again.”
Nate let out a small sigh. It would be good to have their retrieval specialist back. Good to have their Eliot back.
But he would miss this Eliot. They all would.
“Then we’ll make the best of what time you have left, and when you’re big again we’ll welcome that you back to us.” He picked the boy up, holding him close like he had that first night and all the days since, saying words he would have thought not possible for him even a year ago. “Big or small we love you.”
oOo
Nate woke slowly, but even half awake he knew something was different, as his mind climbed out of sleep he recognized what it was.
They had known the time was close. The last few days had been like the first few in rewind. Big Eliot coming slowly but surely back to the surface.
Nate turned and opened his eyes, finding himself staring into Eliot’s. His adult body a barrier between Nate and Sophie.
He looked tired, disoriented, like he’d just woken up in more ways than one.
The room around them was still dark with night, only lit by the almost full moon outside their window.
“Go back to sleep.” Sophie’s voice whispered in the darkness and Eliot turned to look toward her.
Nate settled a hand on Eliot shoulder. “Relax, rest. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow.” Eliot glanced back toward him, seeming like he hadn’t quite re found his voice yet, still was trying to adjust to the change back in their dynamic. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need.”
Eliot closed his eyes and Nate sat up just enough to meet Sophie’s.
A lot had changed in the past month, and a lot would need addressing. It would take time.
But this much, the three of them, the team, together, would last.