Leverage Bingo: The Mark
Title: Grift 101 Class
Author: acquariusgb
Characters: Team
Pairings:hint Nate/Sophie
Spoilers:none
Rating: K+
Word Count: 1030
Summary :This is my first meta crack fic. I wanted to write something different and this came out of my head. I actually don't know how to judge it!
Written for my leverage_bingo card for leverage_bingo. The prompt is:The Mark # 24
Grift 101 class
“Hi every one, I am Nathan Ford.” He presents himself to the class.
A student raises a hand.
He sighs. “Yes, I’m the functional alcoholic they have based the character on the TV Leverage”
Another hand comes up.
“No, I’m not going to sign autographs!”
Some of the students leave the class.
“Well, welcome to Grift 101 class” he claps his hands. “This is my team” he points out to the four people standing behind him “ Eliot Spencer, the retrieval specialist”
Eliot smirks and gives a small wave “How are you doing?”
Some of the girls sitting in the first row look at him with dreamy eyes.
“Then there’s Parker, the best thief I have ever known”
“Hello!”
Some guys at the back gives an appreciative whistle.
“Alec Hardison, a genius with the computer”
“See” someone whispers “ you can be a nerd and still be sexy”
“And last but not least” Nate gives her a flirty smile “Sophie Devereaux, the best grifter in the world”
More appreciative whistle coming from the back, but they stopped as soon as Nate stares at them.
“So, we’re here to tell you a bit about grifing. Well, first of all you can’t grift if haven’t got a mark”
A slide presentation, which Hardison had prepared, appears behind him.
“Here are some of the marks we took down”
Some pictures can be seen on the screen.” Some of them are quiet famous, some are unknown”
“The role of the con artist” intervenes Sophie “ is to give the mark its own confidence, encouraging the mark to thrust him or her”
“In fact the world con derives from confidence!” Parker added.
Sophie looks at her strangely. “Yeah, thanks Parker” she says sarcastically.
“Sure, no problem!” she winks at her.
Sophie shakes her head and continues. “Once that confidence is assured, they use the mark’s own greed to steal money or valuables away from him or her”
“But not all marks are greedy.” A student states. “Some are innocent victims.”
“Yes, well.” Nate replies. “We don’t associate with those con artist. We take down the bad guys.”
“The marks that we take down are ruthless” adds Eliot. “They scam innocent people and take away what they care most”
“So, these people come to us and we help them get back what they have lost”
“Now, if you lovely people will look at my presentation” Hardison works on his tablet pc. “Let’s look at exhibit A: Mister Rockwell”
“Hey, I remember him” someone shouts. “he stopped a robbery in a local shop”
Hardison chuckles. “He wished. He was one of the toughest guy we had to take down. He worked as crisis P.R. He did everything for his clients, even making stuff up about their enemies. He stayed outside the spotlight, so to play a con on him we had to make him famous. We staged the robbery so he could save the day. Bam, he became famous and then he made him pay for what he did.”
“This is the classic case of building a mark’s confidence.”
He shows a slide of photos. “Most be people we took down are C.E.O. of big companies. Believe me, they are the worst!”
“They don’t care about their the other’s interests. Money is the only important thing for them.”
“Money is good” exclaimed Parker. Everyone looks at her. “ I love money! But now I’m one of the good guys so I love honest money”
“Exhibit B: Dr. Hannity. She was a piece of work.”
“Hey” parker looks at the photo. “I remember that job. It’s when I have beaten a Steranko”
“Excuse you?” Hardison tilts his head shocked. “You did what? Do I have to remind you who worked his ass off at the computer to make sure you weren’t caught“
“Puff, details!” she shrugs.
“Guys, let’s not lose focus!” Nate reprimands them.
“Dr. Hannity wanted to create world famine by freeing a deadly fungus that would contaminate all the wheat, so that only wheat resistance to the fungus was the one of her company. He stopped her in time”
There is around of applauses.
“ We had marks that weren’t C.E.O., but it’s better to keep those low key”
“There are different types of cons, but they are manly divided into two categories: “Short con” and “Long con”” continues Hardison.
“Even though they are seven basic cons and the rest of them are all derivatives of those seven” Nate points out.
“Yes, well, I am going to create the eight con and grifters will be talking about me for years to come”
“Keep dreaming, Hardison?” Eliot laughs.
“Really, no appreciation for what I do. Continuing. A short con is practically when you rip off the mark of all their money.”
“My favourite” Sophie eyes light up. “A con, or a grift, when it's performed properly, it combines elegance and style with a, with a classical imitation of legitimate enterprise, parody…” she rambles.
Nate clears his throat. “Sophie” he whispers in her ear.
“What?” she looks around confused. Soon she blushes and bites her bottom lip. “Ops, sorry. Go on”
“A long con is a more complex con. It takes more planning and more preparation. You interact with the mark more. The long cons it’s what we usually do because they require a larger crew.”
“What do you exactly do Mister Ford?” one of the students asks.
“I’m the mastermind. I plan all the cons and find a solution if something goes wrong. For a job, I usually prepare plans that go from A to Z. You have to think about all the possible outcomes and reaction of the mark. Plan A never works out. I count on the simplest and ugliest plan, not plan “A,” no, but, like, plan “G,” for example. I start with plan “G.” Now, the quick, simple, ugly plan that I know is going to work if everything goes bad. I just pretty it up a little bit, add this and that. I gave you a backup plan. So that’s all for now. Our lesson is concluded, if you have any question, we’ll be happy to answer”