comment_fic 1060 - 1064: HL, Marvel movies, Leverage
Title: untitled
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 85
Point of view: third
Prompt: Highlander, Methos, He's been told many secrets over the years, some great, some pathetic and some horrible secrets.
Methos knows what happened to Atlantis, and how Paris agonized over choosing Aphrodite, and who truly guided Red’s son to what became North America, and the way Quetzalcoatl danced, and what lies beyond the edge of the world (and what lies have been told of it).
Too, Methos knows how it began and how it shall end, but he just sips his beer and smiles at the toddlers vying for attention and keeps his own counsel.
Are you not yet bored? his sister asks.
Never, he replies.
Title: I, love, I
Fandom: Marvel movies
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Anne Sexton
Warnings: character death
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 310
Point of view: third
Prompt: Any, author's choice, a love for the ages - if only they hadn't missed their chance meeting
Bucky decides to take the shortcut home from Pa's work instead of the long way, so he doesn't see the little boy getting beat up by three bigger boys.
He still drops out of school to help make ends meet because he has three little sisters, and he still gets drafted after America joins the war. He's a bit softer, maybe, than he might have been, but still a brilliant soldier. When the 107th is captured, no one comes for them.
Hydra still gets their Winter Soldier.
.
Steve limps home and Ma fusses at him. He never stops fighting but the only person on his side is Ma, and she dies when he's 18. He takes work wherever he can get it, and whenever his body is up to it. He tries enlisting a dozen times.
He gets in a fight at the Stark Expo; Dr. Erskine sees it and gives him a chance, which he grabs onto with both hands.
It's the hardest thing he ever does, but Steve becomes Captain America. He spends a year making the circuit selling war bonds before Peggy convinces Phillips to give him a chance, and they get word of Schmidt’s plan to bomb everything.
Captain America still goes into the ice.
.
Steve doesn’t recognize the Winter Soldier. No one does anymore.
The Winter Soldier doesn’t know the man on the bridge.
On the helicarrier, Steve wears the new uniform and doesn’t hesitate; the Winter Soldier shoots to kill.
Project Insight is defeated but it costs Captain America and the Winter Soldier both their lives.
.
(One morning, while he was watching Steve try to eat, Bucky asked, “What d’ya think would’ve happened if we never met?”
Steve had shrugged. “You woulda been better off, Buck,” he said, “and I’d’a been worse.”
Bucky laughed, shaking his head. “Think you got that backwards, punk.”)
Title: a true friend
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: references to violence
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 125
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, Any (+team), real friends help you hide the bodies
"Uh, Eliot?" Parker says after Eliot picks up, "I think I killed him."
There's silence for a moment and then Eliot asks, "Where are you?"
.
Some idiot tried to mug Parker. Unfortunately for him, she's much stronger than she looks, figured out the basics of self-defense on her own, and then had additional training from Eliot goddamned Spencer.
Also unfortunately for the mugger, she hadn’t quite figured out how to adjust how hard she hits.
.
Eliot looks down at the body, then at Parker bouncing on her toes. “I’ll deal with this,” he says. “But tomorrow, we’re adding to your lessons.”
“Thank you, Eliot,” she chirps, kissing his cheek and then skipping away.
He sighs, shaking his head. Having friends is so weird.
Title: in another life
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: violence
Pairings: Eliot/Damien Moreau
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 325
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, Eliot, hands stained red with blood
Follows this
The worst thing Eliot ever does in her life, she does for Damien Moreau.
She started working for him as a bodyguard and then began moving up until she was his chief enforcer, his favorite tool. She started for the pay, stayed for the thrill, and then - well, he’s charming. Elegant. She fell in love. Stupid, Mama would’ve said. You stupid girl, you know the kind of man he is.
Eliot knew the whole time. So many terrible things she’s done, under orders or for money or just to survive.
Damien asks her to and so she does, and afterwards, before even reporting it done, she just looks at her hands. They aren’t shaking. They aren’t even splattered in red. They’re just… hands. Her hands. And they’ll never be clean again.
She goes home, to Damien’s office where he’s waiting, and she says, “I’m done.”
No one walks away from Damien Moreau. No one except Eliot Spencer.
.
Parker asks, “What did you do?” His head is tilted to the side, his shoulders tucked in, his hair even longer than Eliot’s. He’s so damaged and yet so innocent, and Eliot wants to keep him safe.
She says, “Don’t ask me that, Parker. Because if you ask, I’ll tell you.” She would, too. She’s been hiding this truth for six months and she’s so tired. She wants them away from this, away from Damien. Alecia is still dripping water because Eliot had to play Damien’s game, and Natalie is looking at Eliot like she’s never seen her before.
Of course she hasn’t. Eliot Spencer walked away from Damien Moreau and changed everything about herself.
She walked away. She didn’t scorch the earth behind her because he let her go. And now… she looks at Parker and Alecia, at Natalie and Sebastian, and she chooses.
.
Eliot Spencer doesn’t ask forgiveness because she will never earn it. All she can do is protect the team until her dying day.
Title: I’d die for your love
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: references to violence
Pairings: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, past Damien Moreau/Eliot Spencer
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 535
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, any, what would you steal if you could time travel?
There comes a day where he wakes and realizes I no longer love you. Parker is curled up on his back and he's got one arm stretched across Alec's back, and he loves them. He loves them more than he's ever loved anything except his kid sister and her son, and it feels like the anchor of pain and raged and hate shot through with love that still bound him to Damien is gone. He's free.
He blinks away the tears, tightens his hold on Alec, stays perfectly still for Parker, and goes back to sleep.
.
He never tells anyone that he was more than Moreau's hitman. Alec's a smart guy, though, and Parker sometimes just knows things, and Nate and Sophie had probably figured it out.
He was more than Moreau's weapon.
Three years of his life, he gave to Damien. And when he finally had to walk away, Damien let him.
That said it all, really. No one left Damien Moreau's employ alive. No one except Eliot Spencer.
.
Three years of his life, and eight of his heart. It was love and it was lust and it was longing -- to belong, to be cherished, to be protected. He kept Damien safe and secure, and Damien promised to take care of everything else.
He trusted Damien. Eliot Spencer never trusted anyone but his sister, until Damien. And then he never trusted anyone again until Parker and Alec.
.
He wakes up and he no longer loves Damien. Alec and Parker have taken up that space in his heart.
He would kill for them, but they will never ask that of him.
.
Later that same morning, and Parker and Alec are arguing about time travel. Part of Eliot thinks that if he could go back, he'd kill Damien before his younger self ever became enthralled by him.
But what he learned in those three years, he uses now to keep these two morons safe, and maybe eight years of his heart is worth that. His soul was tarnished long before Damien.
Both of them, the best thief in the world and the best hacker, turn to him, demanding, "Right, Eliot?!" because he's always the deciding vote.
He smirks at them. "I wasn't listen'. What?"
.
He never said goodbye to Damien. He kisses Alec and Parker, promising, "I'll be back," and goes to San Lorenzo. Vittori’s been reelected and the general keeps him honest, and most everyone has forgotten about Damien Moreau. He just disappeared.
“Eliot,” Damien says. “Come home at last?”
He shakes his head. “To say goodbye,” he murmurs, looking Damien in the eyes. Once, he loved this man. Belonged to him, body and heart and soul. Did horrible, terrible things because this man demanded it.
“I let you leave,” Damien says now. “Because I loved you.” He smiles and Eliot knows it for the mockery it is. “I won’t make that mistake again. You should kill me now.”
“Yes,” Eliot agrees. “I should.”
.
Parker and Alec meet him at the airport. “Feel better?” Parker asks while Alec glowers at him.
“Yeah,” Eliot says. “I feel free.”
“Don’t leave us behind again,” Alec demands while Parker takes both their hands.
Eliot grins. “Never.”
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 85
Point of view: third
Prompt: Highlander, Methos, He's been told many secrets over the years, some great, some pathetic and some horrible secrets.
Methos knows what happened to Atlantis, and how Paris agonized over choosing Aphrodite, and who truly guided Red’s son to what became North America, and the way Quetzalcoatl danced, and what lies beyond the edge of the world (and what lies have been told of it).
Too, Methos knows how it began and how it shall end, but he just sips his beer and smiles at the toddlers vying for attention and keeps his own counsel.
Are you not yet bored? his sister asks.
Never, he replies.
Title: I, love, I
Fandom: Marvel movies
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Anne Sexton
Warnings: character death
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 310
Point of view: third
Prompt: Any, author's choice, a love for the ages - if only they hadn't missed their chance meeting
Bucky decides to take the shortcut home from Pa's work instead of the long way, so he doesn't see the little boy getting beat up by three bigger boys.
He still drops out of school to help make ends meet because he has three little sisters, and he still gets drafted after America joins the war. He's a bit softer, maybe, than he might have been, but still a brilliant soldier. When the 107th is captured, no one comes for them.
Hydra still gets their Winter Soldier.
.
Steve limps home and Ma fusses at him. He never stops fighting but the only person on his side is Ma, and she dies when he's 18. He takes work wherever he can get it, and whenever his body is up to it. He tries enlisting a dozen times.
He gets in a fight at the Stark Expo; Dr. Erskine sees it and gives him a chance, which he grabs onto with both hands.
It's the hardest thing he ever does, but Steve becomes Captain America. He spends a year making the circuit selling war bonds before Peggy convinces Phillips to give him a chance, and they get word of Schmidt’s plan to bomb everything.
Captain America still goes into the ice.
.
Steve doesn’t recognize the Winter Soldier. No one does anymore.
The Winter Soldier doesn’t know the man on the bridge.
On the helicarrier, Steve wears the new uniform and doesn’t hesitate; the Winter Soldier shoots to kill.
Project Insight is defeated but it costs Captain America and the Winter Soldier both their lives.
.
(One morning, while he was watching Steve try to eat, Bucky asked, “What d’ya think would’ve happened if we never met?”
Steve had shrugged. “You woulda been better off, Buck,” he said, “and I’d’a been worse.”
Bucky laughed, shaking his head. “Think you got that backwards, punk.”)
Title: a true friend
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: references to violence
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 125
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, Any (+team), real friends help you hide the bodies
"Uh, Eliot?" Parker says after Eliot picks up, "I think I killed him."
There's silence for a moment and then Eliot asks, "Where are you?"
.
Some idiot tried to mug Parker. Unfortunately for him, she's much stronger than she looks, figured out the basics of self-defense on her own, and then had additional training from Eliot goddamned Spencer.
Also unfortunately for the mugger, she hadn’t quite figured out how to adjust how hard she hits.
.
Eliot looks down at the body, then at Parker bouncing on her toes. “I’ll deal with this,” he says. “But tomorrow, we’re adding to your lessons.”
“Thank you, Eliot,” she chirps, kissing his cheek and then skipping away.
He sighs, shaking his head. Having friends is so weird.
Title: in another life
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: violence
Pairings: Eliot/Damien Moreau
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 325
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, Eliot, hands stained red with blood
Follows this
The worst thing Eliot ever does in her life, she does for Damien Moreau.
She started working for him as a bodyguard and then began moving up until she was his chief enforcer, his favorite tool. She started for the pay, stayed for the thrill, and then - well, he’s charming. Elegant. She fell in love. Stupid, Mama would’ve said. You stupid girl, you know the kind of man he is.
Eliot knew the whole time. So many terrible things she’s done, under orders or for money or just to survive.
Damien asks her to and so she does, and afterwards, before even reporting it done, she just looks at her hands. They aren’t shaking. They aren’t even splattered in red. They’re just… hands. Her hands. And they’ll never be clean again.
She goes home, to Damien’s office where he’s waiting, and she says, “I’m done.”
No one walks away from Damien Moreau. No one except Eliot Spencer.
.
Parker asks, “What did you do?” His head is tilted to the side, his shoulders tucked in, his hair even longer than Eliot’s. He’s so damaged and yet so innocent, and Eliot wants to keep him safe.
She says, “Don’t ask me that, Parker. Because if you ask, I’ll tell you.” She would, too. She’s been hiding this truth for six months and she’s so tired. She wants them away from this, away from Damien. Alecia is still dripping water because Eliot had to play Damien’s game, and Natalie is looking at Eliot like she’s never seen her before.
Of course she hasn’t. Eliot Spencer walked away from Damien Moreau and changed everything about herself.
She walked away. She didn’t scorch the earth behind her because he let her go. And now… she looks at Parker and Alecia, at Natalie and Sebastian, and she chooses.
.
Eliot Spencer doesn’t ask forgiveness because she will never earn it. All she can do is protect the team until her dying day.
Title: I’d die for your love
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: references to violence
Pairings: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, past Damien Moreau/Eliot Spencer
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 535
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage, any, what would you steal if you could time travel?
There comes a day where he wakes and realizes I no longer love you. Parker is curled up on his back and he's got one arm stretched across Alec's back, and he loves them. He loves them more than he's ever loved anything except his kid sister and her son, and it feels like the anchor of pain and raged and hate shot through with love that still bound him to Damien is gone. He's free.
He blinks away the tears, tightens his hold on Alec, stays perfectly still for Parker, and goes back to sleep.
.
He never tells anyone that he was more than Moreau's hitman. Alec's a smart guy, though, and Parker sometimes just knows things, and Nate and Sophie had probably figured it out.
He was more than Moreau's weapon.
Three years of his life, he gave to Damien. And when he finally had to walk away, Damien let him.
That said it all, really. No one left Damien Moreau's employ alive. No one except Eliot Spencer.
.
Three years of his life, and eight of his heart. It was love and it was lust and it was longing -- to belong, to be cherished, to be protected. He kept Damien safe and secure, and Damien promised to take care of everything else.
He trusted Damien. Eliot Spencer never trusted anyone but his sister, until Damien. And then he never trusted anyone again until Parker and Alec.
.
He wakes up and he no longer loves Damien. Alec and Parker have taken up that space in his heart.
He would kill for them, but they will never ask that of him.
.
Later that same morning, and Parker and Alec are arguing about time travel. Part of Eliot thinks that if he could go back, he'd kill Damien before his younger self ever became enthralled by him.
But what he learned in those three years, he uses now to keep these two morons safe, and maybe eight years of his heart is worth that. His soul was tarnished long before Damien.
Both of them, the best thief in the world and the best hacker, turn to him, demanding, "Right, Eliot?!" because he's always the deciding vote.
He smirks at them. "I wasn't listen'. What?"
.
He never said goodbye to Damien. He kisses Alec and Parker, promising, "I'll be back," and goes to San Lorenzo. Vittori’s been reelected and the general keeps him honest, and most everyone has forgotten about Damien Moreau. He just disappeared.
“Eliot,” Damien says. “Come home at last?”
He shakes his head. “To say goodbye,” he murmurs, looking Damien in the eyes. Once, he loved this man. Belonged to him, body and heart and soul. Did horrible, terrible things because this man demanded it.
“I let you leave,” Damien says now. “Because I loved you.” He smiles and Eliot knows it for the mockery it is. “I won’t make that mistake again. You should kill me now.”
“Yes,” Eliot agrees. “I should.”
.
Parker and Alec meet him at the airport. “Feel better?” Parker asks while Alec glowers at him.
“Yeah,” Eliot says. “I feel free.”
“Don’t leave us behind again,” Alec demands while Parker takes both their hands.
Eliot grins. “Never.”