The Sky Rains Red, Part Six, Leverage (Vamp!Nate AU), NC-17
Fandom: Leverage (Vamp!Nate verse)
Title: The Sky Rains Red, Part Six( Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot, Parker, Sophie, Hardison, Ryna (OFC), Sterling
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 3059
Summary: Eliot and Nate have some alone time that doesn't actually go very well, and when they go to meet Sterling, that goes even worse.
A/Ns & Summary: Sixth chapter of at least seven. Blood!kink (hello, Vampire!). Violence.
Eliot's head is buzzing as he tucks Ryna in on the couch in his office, finally asleep again. Nate paces around them, a different kind of buzz fueling his movements. They had stopped at a local hospital, breaking in to the blood bank to satisfy Nate's need.
It's helping, but not as much as living blood would, but Eliot had serious doubts Nate would be able to function if he hurt anyone else right now, and he'd already drained Eliot as far as he would dare for a while.
"Tell me again?" Nate says and Eliot sighs, pushing himself up to standing.
"Conference room." He is tired. Exhausted really. The whole nightmare has beaten him down, and even having Nate back on his feet, more or less, might not be enough to see them clear. Hardison and Sophie are already in the conference room when they get there and Parker joins them a moment later, her hands wrapped around a mug.
"Hardison." Eliot growls at the hacker who immediately brought the screen to life.
"Okay. So this is what I've got. This is the property Parker tracked out muscle to. It's owned by a company that handles exotic animals."
"What?" Eliot frowns at him, then looks at Parker. "Animals?"
"Big cats mostly."
"Handles, how?" Nate asks, leaning back in his seat.
"Not clear. I found licenses to have and export exotic pets. They have a vet on staff." His fingers fly on the keyboard and the images shift to show the picture of a man in a lab coat. "Meet Dr. Harold Highmore. He's the only resident of the entire place aside from this woman." He clicks his remote and a woman with long brown hair streaked with gold filled the other side of the screen. "Katherine Katja, who owns the company. More interesting is the fact that Dr. Highmore is not, in fact a licensed veterinary doctor. He's an MD with extensive time in research."
"What kind of research?" Sophie leans in to see around Nate, her eyes showing her own fatigue.
"Blood borne pathogens for ten years out of medical school, and then he took a spot at Columbia researching the affect of certain hallucinogenics on the blood supply, before he fell off the grid for about 8 years after his only daughter, Felicia, was attacked by some wild animal while she was out hiking."
Hardison flicks the remote and a young woman's smiling face fills the screen. "This is Felicia. The attack was vicious. Left her paralyzed and blind. Daddy dearest left his job to take care of her."
"So, he's behind the drugged up blood supply?" Parker asks, sitting on the corner of the table.
"But why? It doesn't make any sense." Nate stands, pacing around the room. "I don't know this guy, or his daughter. Why would he target me?"
"And how does this guy tie to Sterling?" Eliot asks.
"Y'all did not give me a lot of time for this. I don't have all the answers." Hardison's fingers fly over the keyboard and the picture of Katherine Katja reappears. "All I know for certain is that our friend Sterling has received several phone calls over the last few year from Katja, and he's flown somewhere to meet her every time."
"None of this makes sense." Nate frowns at him. "I get Sterling wanting to bust us, but you said he was only interested in me." He paces around the room, ending up behind Eliot, hands on Eliot's shoulders.
They're cold and made Eliot think of the vault where he'd been hidden all these weeks while they cleaned him up. Where Eliot had watched him waste away, starving. He shivers and pulls forward, standing up. "He wants you, and he's willing to pay."
"He didn't agree to pay." Sophie counters.
"Didn't disagree either." Parker adds, turning to look at them.
"Where's he getting the money?"
"Ain't his." Hardison says, flashing a bunch of accounts on the screen. "He's close to tapped out. He's spent an awful lot of money hunting you down."
"Katja?" Nate asks, then he shakes his head. "But I don't know her either. Why does she want me…what does she want with me? The drug didn't kill me, wouldn't kill me. It just made me…" He wipes over his face and looks away. Eliot wants to go to him, but knew he'd need to come to terms with this on his own. "Made me very hungry with very little control. It made me strong, broke down the barriers between my human and vampire sides…Who does that benefit?"
"You were drawn to an area where the drug was readily available, drawn to blood that contained that drug…and that drug was expensive to produce, but spread over a poor area." Sophie muses, getting up to pace.
"They wanted you to clean the area out." Eliot says, remembering the bodies that littered the alleys, not all of them dead because of Nate, but enough of them. "Looking to move in? Take over the neighborhood?"
"Then why kill the squatters and homeless and runaways?" Sophie asked, shaking her head. "No, if that's what they wanted they would go after the property owners."
"Hardison, check the cities Sterling met Katja in." Nate said, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What am I looking for?"
"A string of violent, unsolved murders, blood drained. They'd be runaways and homeless, in a seemingly worthless part of town."
"You're on to something." Eliot can see it in his eyes. "Going to tell us what?"
"Not yet. It's just a theory, an idea." Nate turns to him. "You need to get some sleep."
Eliot frowns at him, at the sudden change. "I'm fine."
Nate pulls him aside. "No, I took too much and I'm going to need more."
"I'm fine." Eliot ducks into the hallway away from the others. "Take what you need. I'm fine."
Nate shakes his head. "No, you don't even realize how close I came to killing you back there in that vault. No. You need a good meal and sleep. I'll find another source for now."
"Nate…" There are any number of reasons he doesn't want Nate finding "another source" not the least of which was the fact that they still have no idea what the hell is going on, but Nate's face is set and hard. "Fine. But you're coming home with me. If you think that quick fuck in the hallway was enough after what we've been through, you don't know me all that well."
Nate looks for a minute like he would argue, then nods tightly. "We better get going then. It's almost sunrise."
Eliot doesn't like leaving Ryna with Sophie and Parker again, and she wasn't going to like it either, but he has to think practically. Nate is tightly strung and needy and the sexual need is no where near sated. They need time, but don't have enough of it. Less than twelve hours now.
He knows Nate needs to feed, he's learned to see the signs, and after so long without anything…well, Eliot doesn't know how that works for vampires. All he knows is that hunger in his eyes, the way his hands tremble, then clench.
Nate won't go past the kitchen when they get home though, not until Eliot stops to eat. Frustrated, Eliot throws a couple of burgers in a pan and cracks open a beer, forget that it isn't even quiet dawn. He deserves it after the last couple of weeks.
He drains half the beer and barely lets the burgers get past medium rare before he throws them on a plate and wolfs them down, watching Nate watch him. He washes the last of the burger down with the last of the beer. "Satisfied?"
Nate nods, but there's still hunger and need in his eyes. He licks his lips as Eliot stands and Eliot can feel the restraint, the tight hold that is possibly the only thing keeping Nate from feeding on him as voraciously as Eliot just ate his own meal.
"Bed." He doesn't look to see if Nate follows, just sheds his clothes as he moves through the house and into the bedroom, double checking that the airtight blinds are closed and no stray light was going to get in the way of getting what he wants.
He is nearly naked, down to just his socks when he feels Nate behind him, the cold skin brushing over Eliot's back. Eliot turns, dragging Nate in to kiss deeply. Nate's hands skate over his back, down to his ass, pulling him in closer. Nate growls as Eliot pulls at his clothes, all attempt at verbal communication lost in the rush of need as Eliot pulls him toward the bed.
He manages to get the shirt off, the pants tangle in Nate's legs as Eliot falls over backward to the bed. With a frustrated growl, Nate rips them free, crawling after Eliot, covering Eliot's body with his own.
His eyes are dark as Eliot spreads his legs and guides him in, his movements stiff, barely controlled. His cock is hard and when Eliot touches it, Nate makes a noise that is half growl, half whimper, sounding like a wounded animal in desperate need.
"Easy." Eliot murmurs as he slicks Nate's cock with lube from the bedside table. "Right here." Nate sinks into him, hands pushing Eliot to the bed, holding him there as their bodies rock together. "Right here."
Nate's eyes close as Eliot shifts, tightening around him, tilting his hips to give him a better angle. It's easy to tell as Nate's face changes and his teeth graze Eliot's skin that this isn't going to last any longer than the first time in the hallway outside the vault. Nate shakes, clearly fighting the urge to bite down on that spot where Eliot's life beats. Eliot tilts his head, exposes his neck a little more and Nate moans in denial.
They both know he needs the blood. Eliot's hands snakes up, into Nate's hair, pulling his face down closer until his lips and tongue are on Eliot's skin, the pulse beating just under his lips. Nate's close to orgasm and Eliot knows all it will take to take them both over is one bite.
There's a split second when Eliot thinks maybe he won't do it, then he feels Nate surrender, feels his body, warmed by the sex, covering him, his teeth sharp as they cut through the skin. There's the familiar arousal, the orgasm smearing their stomachs, the heat of Nate's come, the rush of blood…and then darkness.
He wakes to the copper tang of blood in his mouth and an empty bed. Eliot sits up slowly, his body lethargic, though he can feel the blood Nate has fed him working its magic. "Nate?" His arm itches, and he scratches at it, squinting in the gloom of the room. There's a mark there, like he'd had blood drawn recently.
Eliot swings his legs down to the floor, reaching for the robe on the chair and padding out of the bedroom. He finds Nate in the living room, part way into a bottle of Johnny Walker, pacing. He isn't alone.
Eliot stops in the archway, his eyes darting from Nate to Hardison and back. "Nate?"
His step hitches and he flinches, but doesn't respond. Eliot looks back at Hardison. "What happened?"
Hardison looks up, his eyes wet, scared. He shakes his head and pulls his computer closer.
"One of you say something." Eliot growls, his anger clear.
"You should get dressed." Nate says, finally turning toward him, but not looking at him. "It's almost sunset."
"Sunset?" Eliot shakes his head. "You let me sleep all day?"
"Let you nothing." Hardison murmurs, though he flinches when Eliot turns his way.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliot asks.
"Don't take it out on him, it wasn't his fault." Nate sounds…defeated. "I took too much. You shouldn't have…we shouldn't have. I almost killed you."
"Obviously I'm not dead."
"I…know. You should be. Hell, I almost had to turn you to keep you alive." Nate lifted the bottle and drank deep. "And I didn't have the strength to do that."
"That why I feel so dragged out?" Eliot asks, moving around Nate to head for the kitchen. He's hungry and starting to feel the rush that comes with the blood. The table is littered with blood containers, empty Styrofoam cups from the butcher and several IV bags from a blood bank.
"Eliot…" Nate follows him, though he keeps his distance. "I had to give you blood."
Eliot nods. "I get that."
Nate shakes his head. "I had to give you my blood, but I couldn't give you enough…not without turning you. Hardison brought more."
"Okay, so you gave me a transfusion, doesn't explain why you're so freaked out." Eliot pulls leftovers out of the fridge and digs out a fork, not bothering with heating up the chow mein left over from the last time he couldn't stomach eating while Nate was out of it.
Nate makes a distressed sort of noise and pulls Eliot close. "I had to feed."
Eliot nods slowly. "I see that."
Nate's head shakes and Hardison appears in the door, and slowly Eliot begins to realize what Nate is trying to tell him. He backs off, but Nate holds him until he yanks free. "I get it." Eliot growls, tossing the chow mein on the counter. His stomach twists around the knowledge, around the idea that Nate had fed from someone other than him.
He shouldn't be jealous, and he knows that. It's no easy thing to be marked that way by a vampire. He swallows around the emotion and breathes in. "Eliot."
He holds up a hand. "I'm fine."
"I can tell you're not." Nate steps in closer, suddenly crowding Eliot into the counter. He's painfully aware of Hardison hovering in the doorway. His voice is low, deep. "You know I would never--"
"And yet, you did." Eliot cuts him off.
"You were going to die, Eliot." Nate's voice doesn't lift and he doesn't move. "I wasn't going to let that happen."
Hardison's phone rings and for a moment none of them move, then Hardison was slipping away, raising his phone. "Yeah. No, we'll be there."
He stands in the doorway, phone in his hand. "I don't mean to rush you, Nate, but Sophie's waiting."
Nate nods. "You should stay here, rest."
"Like hell." Eliot moves around him.
"Eliot…"
"Maybe he should stay here, rest." Eliot says with more venom than he thinks he means, glaring at Hardison as he passes. "He's the one you didn't give your blood too. I'm more than fine."
When Eliot emerges from the bedroom in clothes, Nate is alone. "Hardison went to meet Sophie."
"Good for him." Eliot knows he sounds petulant, but he can't help the way it feels.
"You're angry."
"Of course I'm angry." Eliot grabs his keys and they leave, headed for his truck. "I'm pissed. Hardison?"
"Is there someone else you would rather I called?" Nate asks as they climb into the truck, his voice pinched. "Would it matter who it was?"
If he's honest with himself there isn't anyone Nate could turn to that would make Eliot happy. "But Hardison?"
"It could have been Sophie." Nate offers as Eliot turns them toward the rendezvous spot. The plan was to tease Sterling out, figure out who was pulling his strings. Hardison and Sophie were set up at two vantage points to watch.
Eliot adjusts his comm. as they stop. "Hardison?"
"Sterling is on approach. Don't see anything else."
"Sophie?" Nate asks, his eyes sweeping the empty lot.
"No sign of any followers."
"I don't like it." Nate's nose crinkles and his hand falls on Eliot's, stopping him when he would have gotten out of the car.
Eliot frowns at him, eyes sweeping the lot. There's nothing moving. The trees that line the far edge offer some cover, so it's conceivable that there is something hiding back there.
"You sense something?"
Nate opens his door slowly, sniffing the air. "Maybe…"
Eliot climbs out, watching Nate circle the truck, his whole body signaling danger. "Get back in the truck." Nate says, though he still hasn't pointed out what the problem is.
Sterling's car is pulling in, his face gloating, then transformed into horror. Eliot feels it seconds before his face is slammed into the truck, nails digging into his shirt. Nate's voice screams in his head as he goes down, rolling as he falls in an attempt to shake free or do a little damage of his own.
He's aware of blood, nails, teeth…his shoulder rips under the onslaught, skin tearing, muscles ripping, but he gets free, pulls loose and drags himself away. Nate is nearby and there's a cat…a big black panther he thinks…but that can't be right…he shakes his head and staggers to his feet. Nate is wrestling with the cat and Sterling is standing dumbfounded in between the vehicles, staring as Nate roars his fury into a sky suddenly blacker than it was before.
Thunder rumbles and in it's wake Eliot hears a voice, a purr. "Come Eliot. Come to me." He shakes his head again, staggering toward Sterling now.
"Gun." Eliot falls into Sterling, numb fingers fumbling at his waist for the gun he knows the man is carrying, but when he lifts it he can't see. The rain is cold and his hands feel like heavy sand.
An inhuman howl splits the air and Eliot falls to his knees, vomiting empty into the dirt.
"Eliot? Eliot? What's going on?" Hardison's voice fills his ear and Sterling is hovering.
"Nate…" Eliot grabs Sterling's jacket and tries to pull himself up. "Where is Nate?"
Suddenly he can smell Nate. He's covered in red rain, eyes wild as he grabs Eliot and shoves him into the truck. He can smell Sterling too, all fear and sweat and indecision as he is shoved into the truck with Eliot. It's too much and Eliot collapses against Nate as he slides in behind the wheel. Too much.
The fire in his wounds is a thing alive, eating him, marking him, changing him. "Eliot? Can you hear me?" Nate's voice is soothing, but Eliot can't respond, falling into the fire.
Title: The Sky Rains Red, Part Six( Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot, Parker, Sophie, Hardison, Ryna (OFC), Sterling
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 3059
Summary: Eliot and Nate have some alone time that doesn't actually go very well, and when they go to meet Sterling, that goes even worse.
A/Ns & Summary: Sixth chapter of at least seven. Blood!kink (hello, Vampire!). Violence.
Eliot's head is buzzing as he tucks Ryna in on the couch in his office, finally asleep again. Nate paces around them, a different kind of buzz fueling his movements. They had stopped at a local hospital, breaking in to the blood bank to satisfy Nate's need.
It's helping, but not as much as living blood would, but Eliot had serious doubts Nate would be able to function if he hurt anyone else right now, and he'd already drained Eliot as far as he would dare for a while.
"Tell me again?" Nate says and Eliot sighs, pushing himself up to standing.
"Conference room." He is tired. Exhausted really. The whole nightmare has beaten him down, and even having Nate back on his feet, more or less, might not be enough to see them clear. Hardison and Sophie are already in the conference room when they get there and Parker joins them a moment later, her hands wrapped around a mug.
"Hardison." Eliot growls at the hacker who immediately brought the screen to life.
"Okay. So this is what I've got. This is the property Parker tracked out muscle to. It's owned by a company that handles exotic animals."
"What?" Eliot frowns at him, then looks at Parker. "Animals?"
"Big cats mostly."
"Handles, how?" Nate asks, leaning back in his seat.
"Not clear. I found licenses to have and export exotic pets. They have a vet on staff." His fingers fly on the keyboard and the images shift to show the picture of a man in a lab coat. "Meet Dr. Harold Highmore. He's the only resident of the entire place aside from this woman." He clicks his remote and a woman with long brown hair streaked with gold filled the other side of the screen. "Katherine Katja, who owns the company. More interesting is the fact that Dr. Highmore is not, in fact a licensed veterinary doctor. He's an MD with extensive time in research."
"What kind of research?" Sophie leans in to see around Nate, her eyes showing her own fatigue.
"Blood borne pathogens for ten years out of medical school, and then he took a spot at Columbia researching the affect of certain hallucinogenics on the blood supply, before he fell off the grid for about 8 years after his only daughter, Felicia, was attacked by some wild animal while she was out hiking."
Hardison flicks the remote and a young woman's smiling face fills the screen. "This is Felicia. The attack was vicious. Left her paralyzed and blind. Daddy dearest left his job to take care of her."
"So, he's behind the drugged up blood supply?" Parker asks, sitting on the corner of the table.
"But why? It doesn't make any sense." Nate stands, pacing around the room. "I don't know this guy, or his daughter. Why would he target me?"
"And how does this guy tie to Sterling?" Eliot asks.
"Y'all did not give me a lot of time for this. I don't have all the answers." Hardison's fingers fly over the keyboard and the picture of Katherine Katja reappears. "All I know for certain is that our friend Sterling has received several phone calls over the last few year from Katja, and he's flown somewhere to meet her every time."
"None of this makes sense." Nate frowns at him. "I get Sterling wanting to bust us, but you said he was only interested in me." He paces around the room, ending up behind Eliot, hands on Eliot's shoulders.
They're cold and made Eliot think of the vault where he'd been hidden all these weeks while they cleaned him up. Where Eliot had watched him waste away, starving. He shivers and pulls forward, standing up. "He wants you, and he's willing to pay."
"He didn't agree to pay." Sophie counters.
"Didn't disagree either." Parker adds, turning to look at them.
"Where's he getting the money?"
"Ain't his." Hardison says, flashing a bunch of accounts on the screen. "He's close to tapped out. He's spent an awful lot of money hunting you down."
"Katja?" Nate asks, then he shakes his head. "But I don't know her either. Why does she want me…what does she want with me? The drug didn't kill me, wouldn't kill me. It just made me…" He wipes over his face and looks away. Eliot wants to go to him, but knew he'd need to come to terms with this on his own. "Made me very hungry with very little control. It made me strong, broke down the barriers between my human and vampire sides…Who does that benefit?"
"You were drawn to an area where the drug was readily available, drawn to blood that contained that drug…and that drug was expensive to produce, but spread over a poor area." Sophie muses, getting up to pace.
"They wanted you to clean the area out." Eliot says, remembering the bodies that littered the alleys, not all of them dead because of Nate, but enough of them. "Looking to move in? Take over the neighborhood?"
"Then why kill the squatters and homeless and runaways?" Sophie asked, shaking her head. "No, if that's what they wanted they would go after the property owners."
"Hardison, check the cities Sterling met Katja in." Nate said, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What am I looking for?"
"A string of violent, unsolved murders, blood drained. They'd be runaways and homeless, in a seemingly worthless part of town."
"You're on to something." Eliot can see it in his eyes. "Going to tell us what?"
"Not yet. It's just a theory, an idea." Nate turns to him. "You need to get some sleep."
Eliot frowns at him, at the sudden change. "I'm fine."
Nate pulls him aside. "No, I took too much and I'm going to need more."
"I'm fine." Eliot ducks into the hallway away from the others. "Take what you need. I'm fine."
Nate shakes his head. "No, you don't even realize how close I came to killing you back there in that vault. No. You need a good meal and sleep. I'll find another source for now."
"Nate…" There are any number of reasons he doesn't want Nate finding "another source" not the least of which was the fact that they still have no idea what the hell is going on, but Nate's face is set and hard. "Fine. But you're coming home with me. If you think that quick fuck in the hallway was enough after what we've been through, you don't know me all that well."
Nate looks for a minute like he would argue, then nods tightly. "We better get going then. It's almost sunrise."
Eliot doesn't like leaving Ryna with Sophie and Parker again, and she wasn't going to like it either, but he has to think practically. Nate is tightly strung and needy and the sexual need is no where near sated. They need time, but don't have enough of it. Less than twelve hours now.
He knows Nate needs to feed, he's learned to see the signs, and after so long without anything…well, Eliot doesn't know how that works for vampires. All he knows is that hunger in his eyes, the way his hands tremble, then clench.
Nate won't go past the kitchen when they get home though, not until Eliot stops to eat. Frustrated, Eliot throws a couple of burgers in a pan and cracks open a beer, forget that it isn't even quiet dawn. He deserves it after the last couple of weeks.
He drains half the beer and barely lets the burgers get past medium rare before he throws them on a plate and wolfs them down, watching Nate watch him. He washes the last of the burger down with the last of the beer. "Satisfied?"
Nate nods, but there's still hunger and need in his eyes. He licks his lips as Eliot stands and Eliot can feel the restraint, the tight hold that is possibly the only thing keeping Nate from feeding on him as voraciously as Eliot just ate his own meal.
"Bed." He doesn't look to see if Nate follows, just sheds his clothes as he moves through the house and into the bedroom, double checking that the airtight blinds are closed and no stray light was going to get in the way of getting what he wants.
He is nearly naked, down to just his socks when he feels Nate behind him, the cold skin brushing over Eliot's back. Eliot turns, dragging Nate in to kiss deeply. Nate's hands skate over his back, down to his ass, pulling him in closer. Nate growls as Eliot pulls at his clothes, all attempt at verbal communication lost in the rush of need as Eliot pulls him toward the bed.
He manages to get the shirt off, the pants tangle in Nate's legs as Eliot falls over backward to the bed. With a frustrated growl, Nate rips them free, crawling after Eliot, covering Eliot's body with his own.
His eyes are dark as Eliot spreads his legs and guides him in, his movements stiff, barely controlled. His cock is hard and when Eliot touches it, Nate makes a noise that is half growl, half whimper, sounding like a wounded animal in desperate need.
"Easy." Eliot murmurs as he slicks Nate's cock with lube from the bedside table. "Right here." Nate sinks into him, hands pushing Eliot to the bed, holding him there as their bodies rock together. "Right here."
Nate's eyes close as Eliot shifts, tightening around him, tilting his hips to give him a better angle. It's easy to tell as Nate's face changes and his teeth graze Eliot's skin that this isn't going to last any longer than the first time in the hallway outside the vault. Nate shakes, clearly fighting the urge to bite down on that spot where Eliot's life beats. Eliot tilts his head, exposes his neck a little more and Nate moans in denial.
They both know he needs the blood. Eliot's hands snakes up, into Nate's hair, pulling his face down closer until his lips and tongue are on Eliot's skin, the pulse beating just under his lips. Nate's close to orgasm and Eliot knows all it will take to take them both over is one bite.
There's a split second when Eliot thinks maybe he won't do it, then he feels Nate surrender, feels his body, warmed by the sex, covering him, his teeth sharp as they cut through the skin. There's the familiar arousal, the orgasm smearing their stomachs, the heat of Nate's come, the rush of blood…and then darkness.
He wakes to the copper tang of blood in his mouth and an empty bed. Eliot sits up slowly, his body lethargic, though he can feel the blood Nate has fed him working its magic. "Nate?" His arm itches, and he scratches at it, squinting in the gloom of the room. There's a mark there, like he'd had blood drawn recently.
Eliot swings his legs down to the floor, reaching for the robe on the chair and padding out of the bedroom. He finds Nate in the living room, part way into a bottle of Johnny Walker, pacing. He isn't alone.
Eliot stops in the archway, his eyes darting from Nate to Hardison and back. "Nate?"
His step hitches and he flinches, but doesn't respond. Eliot looks back at Hardison. "What happened?"
Hardison looks up, his eyes wet, scared. He shakes his head and pulls his computer closer.
"One of you say something." Eliot growls, his anger clear.
"You should get dressed." Nate says, finally turning toward him, but not looking at him. "It's almost sunset."
"Sunset?" Eliot shakes his head. "You let me sleep all day?"
"Let you nothing." Hardison murmurs, though he flinches when Eliot turns his way.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliot asks.
"Don't take it out on him, it wasn't his fault." Nate sounds…defeated. "I took too much. You shouldn't have…we shouldn't have. I almost killed you."
"Obviously I'm not dead."
"I…know. You should be. Hell, I almost had to turn you to keep you alive." Nate lifted the bottle and drank deep. "And I didn't have the strength to do that."
"That why I feel so dragged out?" Eliot asks, moving around Nate to head for the kitchen. He's hungry and starting to feel the rush that comes with the blood. The table is littered with blood containers, empty Styrofoam cups from the butcher and several IV bags from a blood bank.
"Eliot…" Nate follows him, though he keeps his distance. "I had to give you blood."
Eliot nods. "I get that."
Nate shakes his head. "I had to give you my blood, but I couldn't give you enough…not without turning you. Hardison brought more."
"Okay, so you gave me a transfusion, doesn't explain why you're so freaked out." Eliot pulls leftovers out of the fridge and digs out a fork, not bothering with heating up the chow mein left over from the last time he couldn't stomach eating while Nate was out of it.
Nate makes a distressed sort of noise and pulls Eliot close. "I had to feed."
Eliot nods slowly. "I see that."
Nate's head shakes and Hardison appears in the door, and slowly Eliot begins to realize what Nate is trying to tell him. He backs off, but Nate holds him until he yanks free. "I get it." Eliot growls, tossing the chow mein on the counter. His stomach twists around the knowledge, around the idea that Nate had fed from someone other than him.
He shouldn't be jealous, and he knows that. It's no easy thing to be marked that way by a vampire. He swallows around the emotion and breathes in. "Eliot."
He holds up a hand. "I'm fine."
"I can tell you're not." Nate steps in closer, suddenly crowding Eliot into the counter. He's painfully aware of Hardison hovering in the doorway. His voice is low, deep. "You know I would never--"
"And yet, you did." Eliot cuts him off.
"You were going to die, Eliot." Nate's voice doesn't lift and he doesn't move. "I wasn't going to let that happen."
Hardison's phone rings and for a moment none of them move, then Hardison was slipping away, raising his phone. "Yeah. No, we'll be there."
He stands in the doorway, phone in his hand. "I don't mean to rush you, Nate, but Sophie's waiting."
Nate nods. "You should stay here, rest."
"Like hell." Eliot moves around him.
"Eliot…"
"Maybe he should stay here, rest." Eliot says with more venom than he thinks he means, glaring at Hardison as he passes. "He's the one you didn't give your blood too. I'm more than fine."
When Eliot emerges from the bedroom in clothes, Nate is alone. "Hardison went to meet Sophie."
"Good for him." Eliot knows he sounds petulant, but he can't help the way it feels.
"You're angry."
"Of course I'm angry." Eliot grabs his keys and they leave, headed for his truck. "I'm pissed. Hardison?"
"Is there someone else you would rather I called?" Nate asks as they climb into the truck, his voice pinched. "Would it matter who it was?"
If he's honest with himself there isn't anyone Nate could turn to that would make Eliot happy. "But Hardison?"
"It could have been Sophie." Nate offers as Eliot turns them toward the rendezvous spot. The plan was to tease Sterling out, figure out who was pulling his strings. Hardison and Sophie were set up at two vantage points to watch.
Eliot adjusts his comm. as they stop. "Hardison?"
"Sterling is on approach. Don't see anything else."
"Sophie?" Nate asks, his eyes sweeping the empty lot.
"No sign of any followers."
"I don't like it." Nate's nose crinkles and his hand falls on Eliot's, stopping him when he would have gotten out of the car.
Eliot frowns at him, eyes sweeping the lot. There's nothing moving. The trees that line the far edge offer some cover, so it's conceivable that there is something hiding back there.
"You sense something?"
Nate opens his door slowly, sniffing the air. "Maybe…"
Eliot climbs out, watching Nate circle the truck, his whole body signaling danger. "Get back in the truck." Nate says, though he still hasn't pointed out what the problem is.
Sterling's car is pulling in, his face gloating, then transformed into horror. Eliot feels it seconds before his face is slammed into the truck, nails digging into his shirt. Nate's voice screams in his head as he goes down, rolling as he falls in an attempt to shake free or do a little damage of his own.
He's aware of blood, nails, teeth…his shoulder rips under the onslaught, skin tearing, muscles ripping, but he gets free, pulls loose and drags himself away. Nate is nearby and there's a cat…a big black panther he thinks…but that can't be right…he shakes his head and staggers to his feet. Nate is wrestling with the cat and Sterling is standing dumbfounded in between the vehicles, staring as Nate roars his fury into a sky suddenly blacker than it was before.
Thunder rumbles and in it's wake Eliot hears a voice, a purr. "Come Eliot. Come to me." He shakes his head again, staggering toward Sterling now.
"Gun." Eliot falls into Sterling, numb fingers fumbling at his waist for the gun he knows the man is carrying, but when he lifts it he can't see. The rain is cold and his hands feel like heavy sand.
An inhuman howl splits the air and Eliot falls to his knees, vomiting empty into the dirt.
"Eliot? Eliot? What's going on?" Hardison's voice fills his ear and Sterling is hovering.
"Nate…" Eliot grabs Sterling's jacket and tries to pull himself up. "Where is Nate?"
Suddenly he can smell Nate. He's covered in red rain, eyes wild as he grabs Eliot and shoves him into the truck. He can smell Sterling too, all fear and sweat and indecision as he is shoved into the truck with Eliot. It's too much and Eliot collapses against Nate as he slides in behind the wheel. Too much.
The fire in his wounds is a thing alive, eating him, marking him, changing him. "Eliot? Can you hear me?" Nate's voice is soothing, but Eliot can't respond, falling into the fire.