The Truth or Dare Job, Part Eight, Leverage (vamp!Nate), PG-13
Fandom: Leverage (Vamp!Nate verse)
Title: The Truth or Dare Job, Part Eight (Index to Vamp!Nate: Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot/Hardison
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 780
Summary: Nate and Eliot talk about how they got to where they are, and what Hardison needs.
A/Ns & Summary: Eight chapter of a 25 chapter arc, for my angst_bingo card, found here. For the prompt "Bullying".
“I’m just…restless. I don’t like sitting.”
“You’re not, you’re pacing.”
“Funny. I just feel like…” He sighed and stopped, crossing his arms. “Like we’ve been shoved into this.”
Nate considered that. “You mean that I’ve shoved us into this.”
Eliot scowled at him. “That’s not what I said.”
“But it isn’t wrong.” Nate conceded. He went to the refrigerator and pulled out the left over gravy, dumping it into the small saucepan to warm up for the potatoes. “I was the only one of the three of us that chose this.”
“I chose to be with you.” Eliot said.
“No, not really. You didn’t know what you were getting into. You only knew that I needed something you could give me. You had no idea what it would mean.”
“Come on, there’s no way you can blame yourself for….all of this?”
“No?” Nate turned to look at him. “I’m the one who nearly killed you. I’m the one who fed you so much of my blood trying to save you that I nearly turned you…and that led to me needing to feed on the only person nearby. I bullied Hardison into it because I didn’t want to leave you.”
“You’re not a bully.” Eliot argued, but even he knew he had nothing to base it on.
“You weren’t there. Not really.” Nate stirred the gravy, remembering the panic as he realized what he’d done, he’d called Hardison and ordered him to pick up supplies, knowing it wasn’t going to be enough. “Genevieve warned me.” Nate murmured.
“She what?”
Nate sighed. He’d never really worried about it, being a loner at heart since he’d lost Sam, lost his wife. “Vampires, by their nature, are power hungry creatures. Those that don’t kill their donors tend to collect them. Or turn them and collect new ones.” Until Eliot, Nate hadn’t worried about it.
After Eliot, he’d really only given it passing thought, after all, Eliot was more than he thought he could ever need…until the drug, and his complete loss of control. “We keep pretending we can be…human again, Eliot. But we’re not.”
“No, we’re not.” Eliot agreed. Nate could feel him approach, even before his hands found their way to Nate’s back. “We’re monsters.” His lips belied his words, soft against the cotton of Nate’s shirt, kiss up his spine.
“And I didn’t give Hardison a choice…I took what I needed from him, and once I had…”
“He was stuck with the same situation I had after you bit me.” Eliot finished. “But you’re forgetting something, Nate. Hardison knew the risks. Hardison knows how to kill you. If he really didn’t want it, I think he would have found a way out of it. Hell, if he’s as terrified as all that, he knows how to get himself out of the country, disappear.”
"We are talking about Hardison here, right?"
"Yeah, we're talking about Hardison. He's as geeky as they come, no lie, but I promise you, he's done the research. He probably knows more about vampires than you do by now."
Nate had to concede that. "Come to think of it, his fear ratcheted up when you came into the room."
Eliot actually snorted and backed off. "No shit. Ain't no research he can do where I'm concerned, is there? Hell, we still don't know what all I can and can't do."
"You're the one he's attracted to though." Nate said, stirring his cooking food. "It's always been you."
"I think maybe I hit your head a little too hard back there." Eliot countered. "The sex is all about the biting. If you and I weren't forcing the issue, he wouldn't want anything to do with the fucking parts."
Nate laughed. "Sophie said you didn't see it."
"Sophie?" Eliot put his hands on his hips. "Sophie? You're talking to Sophie about our sex life?"
"No, just about how oblivious you are to Hardison's admiration of you. I mean, he tries to hide it. I just never realized how clueless you really were."
"It's the cat and the vampire. It ain't me."
"No? Maybe you should ask him about that. You two should spend some time together, time that isn't just about feeding and sex."
"Like what?" Eliot asked.
"I don't know go out."
"Like on a date?"
"Sure, I mean, why not. Go someplace nice. Have a few beers. Calm him down. Show him you aren't going to kill him."
Nate pulled him in to kiss him. "It'll be good for both of you."
Title: The Truth or Dare Job, Part Eight (Index to Vamp!Nate: Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot/Hardison
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 780
Summary: Nate and Eliot talk about how they got to where they are, and what Hardison needs.
A/Ns & Summary: Eight chapter of a 25 chapter arc, for my angst_bingo card, found here. For the prompt "Bullying".
“I’m just…restless. I don’t like sitting.”
“You’re not, you’re pacing.”
“Funny. I just feel like…” He sighed and stopped, crossing his arms. “Like we’ve been shoved into this.”
Nate considered that. “You mean that I’ve shoved us into this.”
Eliot scowled at him. “That’s not what I said.”
“But it isn’t wrong.” Nate conceded. He went to the refrigerator and pulled out the left over gravy, dumping it into the small saucepan to warm up for the potatoes. “I was the only one of the three of us that chose this.”
“I chose to be with you.” Eliot said.
“No, not really. You didn’t know what you were getting into. You only knew that I needed something you could give me. You had no idea what it would mean.”
“Come on, there’s no way you can blame yourself for….all of this?”
“No?” Nate turned to look at him. “I’m the one who nearly killed you. I’m the one who fed you so much of my blood trying to save you that I nearly turned you…and that led to me needing to feed on the only person nearby. I bullied Hardison into it because I didn’t want to leave you.”
“You’re not a bully.” Eliot argued, but even he knew he had nothing to base it on.
“You weren’t there. Not really.” Nate stirred the gravy, remembering the panic as he realized what he’d done, he’d called Hardison and ordered him to pick up supplies, knowing it wasn’t going to be enough. “Genevieve warned me.” Nate murmured.
“She what?”
Nate sighed. He’d never really worried about it, being a loner at heart since he’d lost Sam, lost his wife. “Vampires, by their nature, are power hungry creatures. Those that don’t kill their donors tend to collect them. Or turn them and collect new ones.” Until Eliot, Nate hadn’t worried about it.
After Eliot, he’d really only given it passing thought, after all, Eliot was more than he thought he could ever need…until the drug, and his complete loss of control. “We keep pretending we can be…human again, Eliot. But we’re not.”
“No, we’re not.” Eliot agreed. Nate could feel him approach, even before his hands found their way to Nate’s back. “We’re monsters.” His lips belied his words, soft against the cotton of Nate’s shirt, kiss up his spine.
“And I didn’t give Hardison a choice…I took what I needed from him, and once I had…”
“He was stuck with the same situation I had after you bit me.” Eliot finished. “But you’re forgetting something, Nate. Hardison knew the risks. Hardison knows how to kill you. If he really didn’t want it, I think he would have found a way out of it. Hell, if he’s as terrified as all that, he knows how to get himself out of the country, disappear.”
"We are talking about Hardison here, right?"
"Yeah, we're talking about Hardison. He's as geeky as they come, no lie, but I promise you, he's done the research. He probably knows more about vampires than you do by now."
Nate had to concede that. "Come to think of it, his fear ratcheted up when you came into the room."
Eliot actually snorted and backed off. "No shit. Ain't no research he can do where I'm concerned, is there? Hell, we still don't know what all I can and can't do."
"You're the one he's attracted to though." Nate said, stirring his cooking food. "It's always been you."
"I think maybe I hit your head a little too hard back there." Eliot countered. "The sex is all about the biting. If you and I weren't forcing the issue, he wouldn't want anything to do with the fucking parts."
Nate laughed. "Sophie said you didn't see it."
"Sophie?" Eliot put his hands on his hips. "Sophie? You're talking to Sophie about our sex life?"
"No, just about how oblivious you are to Hardison's admiration of you. I mean, he tries to hide it. I just never realized how clueless you really were."
"It's the cat and the vampire. It ain't me."
"No? Maybe you should ask him about that. You two should spend some time together, time that isn't just about feeding and sex."
"Like what?" Eliot asked.
"I don't know go out."
"Like on a date?"
"Sure, I mean, why not. Go someplace nice. Have a few beers. Calm him down. Show him you aren't going to kill him."
Nate pulled him in to kiss him. "It'll be good for both of you."