The Very Distinctive Hacker Job
Title: The Very Distinctive Hacker Job
Author: Trapper Creek Kaniac
Fandom: Leverage
Category: Humor/friendship
Pairing: Eliot and Hardison
Rating: PG
Warning(s): none
Summary: Eliot's often does little things for the team, and when he runs into a certain hacker, he can't help himself.
Author's Note: Leveragleand cheerleading gift for spnfreak15. Set sometime between the Ho Ho Ho Job and The Last Dam Job.
Wait a minute, he knew that I-run-the-world swagger. It was a very distinctive swagger. Eliot paused on the sidewalk and focused on the individual that had caught his attention. The man was walking down the sidewalk with his back to him, a laptop bag slung over his shoulder and a large bottle of the cherry-flavored version of that awful stuff Hardison was drinking tucked under his left arm.
Chaos. Eliot swallowed a growl of annoyance. What the fuck was he doing out of prison so soon?
He continued to stare at Chaos until he disappeared around a corner. Colin “Chaos” Mason, a hacker that the team had a couple of run-ins with in the past. More importantly, Chaos was the guy that killed his friend's van. Nobody messed with his friends and walked away unscathed.
An idea struck him and he turned and walked in the opposite direction, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He knew a couple guys that owed him a favor and he figured it was about time to cash them in.
~*~
“Checked baggage for Colin Mason.”
Eliot kept his head down as he pushed the crate over to the security desk. Nobody would look twice at him dressed in an airport uniform and baseball cap pulled down over his face. Jake would be well compensated for his silence about his time spent stuffed in a locker.
According to one of the guys who owed him a favor, Chaos had a flight booked to Rome that was leaving in about fifteen minutes. Which fit perfectly with his plans.
“Sir, we have a couple routine questions about your checked baggage.” The guard in charge of checking baggage said as Chaos arrived right on schedule.
“Whatever.” Chaos held his arms out for the guard. “My flight leaves in like... wait, I, I don't have any checked luggage.”
The guard pointed to the crate. “Isn't that your name on the slip?”
“Yes, but...” Eliot hid a smirk as a look of horror crossed Chaos's face when he realized what was happening. “No, no, no, not again!”
The guard gave him an odd look and motioned for Eliot to open the crate.
Eliot pried the lid off and revealed five identical forged paintings, courtesy of another guy he knew. There was a note stuck on one of the paintings with payback's a bitch written across it.
“Sir, I need you to step over here, please.” The guard escorted Chaos out of the line and then spoke into his shoulder radio. “Security, we have a 1011 at Gate 32.”
Eliot watched, pretending to be surprised by the turn of events. Chaos noticed him and started to protest.
“Wait! This is all a mistake, I'm being set up! That guy,” Chaos gestured wildly at Eliot. “He set me up! He doesn't even work here, he's a-”
“Sir, I need you to please calm down,” the guard said patiently but Chaos wasn't listening.
“The paintings, they're forgeries, he's trying to get me thrown in jail agai-” Three security guards arrived and restrained Chaos, one pulling out a pair of cuffs and cuffing the hacker.
As soon as they drug the hacker away, and out of sight, Eliot made his exit. He changed out of the uniform, and returned it to its owner with a few threatening growls to keep him in line, and walked out the front door satisfied that Hardison would never find about Chaos's having another little “incident” with airport security. The team hardly ever noticed all the little things he did for them and he was okay with that.