Leverage Bingo: WILD CARD
Title: A Simple Gesture That Changed Everything
Author: acquariusgb
Characters: Team, Maggie, Sam, Sterling, Ian Blackpoole
Pairings: Nate/Sophie, pre-series Nate/Maggie
Spoilers:none
Rating: T
Word Count: 17476
Summary : What if Sam did get his treatment and didn't die? How would him being alive affect the first season of Leverage?
Warning: Not main character death
Written for my leverage_bingo card for leverage_bingo. The prompt is:Wild Card (AU) # 25
A Simple Gesture That Changed Everything.
The beeping of the monitor was the only sound in the hospital room. Maggie Collins was silently crying next to her son's bed, holding his hand while Nate stood in front of the window looking the traffic below. He couldn't see his son like this, knowing that any minute he could die. His clothes were worn out. He hadn't left the building in two days and he probably needed a shower. He had lost a lot of weight and his face was pale expect for his heavy eyes. They were now without life. He was so frustrated and angry and ready to just shout at something or someone.
Suddenly the door behind them opened and one of the doctors rushed inside.
"Good news, we can started the experimental treatment!"
Nate turned around perplexed. "What do you mean? We didn't pay for it"
"We received an anonymous donation specifically for your son's treatment. Hopefully we are still in time for it to work!"
Maggie got up with a sigh in relief. She gave a small chuckle filled with tears. "Nate..."
The man was still dumb fold and shocked. Did IYS change their mind?
Soon nurses and other doctors filled the room and started the new treatment. It was the last hope for the eight years old boy.
Nate and Maggie were escorted outside the room but they could observe what was happening from the window in the corridor. Maggie quietly got closer to her husband and laid her head on his shoulder. On instinct he put his arm around her. In the was the only sign of comfort they had offered to each other in the last days. Their relationship had become distant, especially since Nate blamed himself for failing as a father and started drinking and Maggie didn't have the strength to save her husband.
"There is still hope, Nate. There is still hope." she whispered.
"Yeah!"
The following days were all about waiting and hoping. The doctors kept giving Sam the treatment and check his vital and cell counts, but the boy still hadn't regained consciousness. The two parents took turns in waiting for any kind of sign. Reluctantly, Nate had gone home to wash and change his clothes after Maggie had practically thrown him out of the hospital.
On day three both parents were in the room. They were practically living separated lives. They knew that something had broken between them and maybe only their son could put it back together.
Sam slowly opened his eyes. "Mommy, Daddy!" came the small whisper.
At first they thought they had been dreaming his voice but at the second calling they jumped from the chairs and rushed to the bed.
“Sam, baby!” Maggie ran a hand through his hair and face.
“Mommy!”
And Maggie started crying. She was so happy to hear her little baby’s voice again.
“Hey there buddy, how are you feeling?” Nate patted his head.
“My throat hurts.” The boy whispered.
Nate filled a glass with water and put a straw it then he brought to his son lips. “This will help”
In the meanwhile Maggie pushed the call button waiting for the medical staff to arrive. The first to enter was a nurse.
“He’s awake!” she exclaimed smiling.
After all the check-ups the doctors talked to Nate and Maggie outside Sam’s room.
“Well, it seems that everything is doing great. The treatment is working for now, he will have to stay under observation for some time and he still needs his strength back, but for now it’s looking good!”
“Thank you, doctor!” That’s the only thing they need to hear. Their son had another chance of living.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A couple of days later, Nate was having some alone time with his son. Maggie had gone home for a rest and to get some clean clothes for Sam and Nate was happy to spend some quality time with him. He never thought he was going to have that chance again.
“What else did I miss? How are the Red Sox doing?”
“Well, they had their ups and downs!” Nate smiled. “Once you are strong again, I’ll take you to a game. I promise”
“How about my team? Did they win?” he asked with enthusiasm.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really been to your school. But I know your friends have sent you a lot of cards and letters. I think your mother has them.”
“Oh, school! I’m going to miss the year, aren’t I?” he looked disappointed. He liked going to school and spend time with his friends. He really didn’t want to be left a year behind.
Nate patted his leg softly. “Don’t worry about it! We will figure something out. All you have to do now is keep getting better, okay?”
The boy nodded and tried to hide a yawn, but Nate wasn’t fooled.
“Go to sleep now”
“But, daddy…” Sam protested.
“Come on!” Nate tucked him back under the bed covers. “We will continue talking after your rest”
“ ‘ Night, daddy!” Sam closed his eyes.
“ ‘Night, son!” and he kissed his temple.
He stood there watching his son fall asleep. His all body slowly relaxing now that he was going to live. Then a sudden movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. There in front of corridor window he saw a woman that he never thought he would see again. They stood there watching each other through the thin glass. He was still shocked from seeing her and she was mentally regretting coming in there in the first place.
Nate finally went out of the room and stopped in front of her.
“ Sophie, what are you…” he didn’t know what to say.
“Hello Nate. I heard that your son was finally doing better and came to check how he was.” She couldn’t look at him in the eyes and something in Nate’s head finally clicked.
“Let’s go outside!”
After asking a nurse to check on Sam until he or his wife got back, he guided Sophie to a secluded balcony on the top floor that he discovered one day while wondering through the hospital. They went outside; the air was warm even though it was evening.
Nate closed the glass balcony door behind him. The light coming from the inside was enough for him to see her figure leaning on the railing.
“It was you.” He finally stated “ You paid for Sam’s treatment”
There was no accusation in his voice, it was just a statement, but his sudden words hit her very hard.
She swallowed. “It was an anonymous donation” They both knew it was a lie.
“Don’t play games with me, Sophie!” Nate slightly raised his voice.
“What do you want me to say, Nate?” she shouted back. “Yes, I paid for the treatment, happy? After I’ve heard what that bastard of Blackpool had done to you, I wasn’t going to let your son die; especially since I had the means and founds to help him” …. You… She looked down.
Nate sighed, hands in his pockets. “Why, Sophie? Why?”
She slowly raised her head, her eyes filled with tears and looked straight into his deep blue eyes. “You know why.” She whispered.
And so it was out. They both knew that there has always been an attraction between them that they silently agreed never to mention it.
Nate looked down embarrassed. “Soph,… you… I can’t…”
“I am not asking anything from you, Nate” she stopped him before he could hurt her even more. “I don’t need anything from you”
“I need to patch things up with Maggie. Sam needs both of us…” he tried to justify himself.
“I know, Nate. I know. I just wanted to see how Sam was doing. No child has to go through what he went”
“You know I can never repay you back.”
“Nate, the last thing I want is the money back. It was an anonymous donation, that’s it. But if you really want for us to be even, let’s say it’s a thank you for all those times you let me go”
He nodded. “ So what is the great Sophie Devereaux going to do now?” he smiled changing the subject.
She chuckled. “Now that Nate Ford is out of the insurance business? I don’t know, maybe stop being a thief for the time being.”
Nate raised an eyebrow in surprise.
She shrugged. “What can I say? There is no thrill if you aren’t the one chasing me. Nobody is good as you are. I think I’ll start an acting career.”
“Of course”
The awkward silence was back.
Sophie cleared her throat. “Well, it’s time to me to leave. You probably want to go back to your son too.” She started moving away.
“Sophie…”
She turned around and was surprised to feel his lips on top of hers. Many times she has imagined this moment. In all their chasing around Europe they often caught themselves in this position, their lips closed. But his guilt and Catholicism kicked in before they could do anything. But now he had made the first move. His kiss was demanding, his tongue asking permission to enter her mouth and she happily gave it to him. All their pent up tension was finally being slowly released. A demanding need for oxygen cut the kiss short, but they stayed close. Their foreheads touching and their lips caressing each other with every heavy breath they took.
“What…” she finally said against his lips.
“Thank you for saving my son’s life” he whispered back.
“Anytime”
They reluctantly let go, knowing that probably they weren’t going to see each other for a long time, if ever again.
“Until we meet again, Nathan Ford” she said with a sad smile and disappeared inside the hospital.
“Until we meet again.” He replied in the lonely night.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After Sophie left, Nate decided to go for a walk to clear his head not really wanting to see his son in the state he was in. What happened on top of that balcony still shocked him. Of course he had a vague suspicion than the beautiful thief had been behind the donation, but he never thought it could have been her. Did he really underestimated the feelings that he knew she felt for him? He has always thought she was playing a game with him, and most of the time that was true. He was just another man attracted to her that she liked to tease, but sometimes he could see it in her eyes, this longing that he could never put a label on it. Until now…
Not that he could do anything about it. He was married and he took his vows very seriously. Things between Maggie weren’t going so great but with Sam finally getting better and with time he hoped that things were going to change. He stills had to believe in that.
He had been walking for what seemed hours and he had odd enough ended in the ER. An ambulance came full speed and the doors opened. The paramedics brought a stretcher out.
“Caucasian woman, early 40s, victim of a car crash. Evident head trauma and lacerations. There has been no pulse for 10 minutes” one of the paramedics shouted.
The doctors nearby took the respirator and started to treat her.
"Out of the way" One pushed Nate out of the stretcher’s way.
That's when he recognized the woman laying on it. "Maggie..." He was shocked.
He slowly walked to her.
"Sir, you can't stay here" one of the nurses tried to take him away.
"That's my wife" he whispered.
"What?"
"That's my wife..."
The doctor kept working to save her. "There must be an internal bleeding somewhere. Bring a scan machine, quick!"
But the heart monitor emitted a long beeping sound. "She's crashing! Get the cart!"
In front of Nate all was moving in slow motion.
The cart.
"Clear!"
Bang
"300, clear"
Bang.
"Nothing... clear"
Bang
"Still no pulse"
"Clear"
Bang.
Until there was no sound.
"Time of death: 21.48"
Nate stood still. Around him the nurses were clearing the room. Somebody asked him if he was okay, but he felt nothing. Slowly he approached Maggie. Expect for the cuts and blood it looked like she was sleeping. He caressed her hair and face and kissed her on the forehead like he use to do years before. He took her left hand in his. He felt the cold gold metal and after a bit of hesitation he slowly slide her wedding ring off. He has never seen her without. Not since he had put it on her on their wedding day. That's when he finally hit him. His wife had died in front of him. He couldn't stop the sobs and he leaned over her. He felt someone taking him away and then it was all blank.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Four days later he walked through the hospital corridors for what was going to be hopefully the last time. He could feel the nurses eyes on him. He knew what they were all thinking. Poor man, to get his son back and then lose his wife so suddenly. They were all pitying him. Everyone was trying to help him; flowers, card, food from neighbors and friends. They all looked at him like he was going to break down anytime soon, he hated it! He hated all the attention!
He entered his son's room. Sam was unsuccessfully trying to tie his tie and he groaned in frustration.
Nate smiled a bit. He was all him!
"Hey there, need help?"
Sam looked down and slowly nodded.
Nate went to him and tied his tie. "There you are"
"Thanks. Mommy used to..." but then he sadly looked down.
Nate felt his throat close up bit then let a sigh out. "I know."
The devastated expression on Sam's face when he told him about his mother still haunted him at night. He had nightmares every day, sometimes wishing that he could trade place with her.
He patted his son head. "Come on, let's get out of here. We won’t be seeing this place for a long time"
Sam jumped out of the bed and after taking his father hand they walked out.
The funeral that afternoon had been a memorable service, Paul made sure about it. For once Nate was grateful to have him has a friend. That was until Paul insisted that he gave confession before the funeral. But he didn't really talk. There was nothing to say. He was angry with everyone, but especially to God and it was going to take him a while before he could find his faith again.
The all met at their- Nate's house. He didn't know who took care of the cleaning and service, probably Maggie’s parents, but frankly he didn't really care. He just wanted the day to end. So he stood outside on the porch with a glass of scotch hoping that everyone had the decency not to bother him.
"Nate" That was definitely the last voice he wanted to hear.
"Ian Blackpoole. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he turned around to confront the man.
Of course Sterling was soon behind the man. Lately he has been the bastard’s shadow.
"Just came to pay my respects. Maggie was such a wonderful woman. So sorry to see her leave us so early in life."
"Yeah, I'm sure"
"I also came to offer you your job back. I know you weren't on your right state of mind the day you decided to quit and with all the bills you will have to pay…"
"Oh, believe me. I had never seen things so clearly in my entire life." He grinned.
Blackpoole looked affronted. "I hope you're not still upset about that claim."
"You denied treatment for my son. Something that saved his life." Nate replied angrily "If it hadn't been for that donation..."
"Oh, yes that anonymous donation. Strange really, how that showed up at the right time. Wonder who sent it. I'm actually curious, I might ask IYS to look into it"
"You stay out of it" Nate pointed a finger at him.
"Why so angry? Does it have to do with a certain brunette thief that has been seen in L.A. recently?" Blackpoole smiled in an evil way. " I wonder if Maggie knew that her husband wasn't so noble after all"
Bang, Nate punched him hard on the face. "Get out of my house!"
Sterling went to help Blackpoole up but the man shoved him away and touched his bleeding lip.
"About that, IYS needs this property back. You have until the end of the week to leave!"
Both men left and Nate sighed frustrated. He really wanted everything to end.
Two years later…
“I’m going to catch my plane soon. I’m just waiting for the airport shuttle” Nate spoke to his son on the phone. He took a sip of the drink the bartender placed in front of him.
“Yes, the job interview went well. They will let me know” He chuckled. “No, I’m not lying to you. Sometimes you sound just like your mother!” He sighed. “Are you being a good boy for Mrs. Gregg? I hope you and Matt are not driving her crazy.”
He saw a strange man approaching him. “I will call you as soon as I arrive in L.A. Bye, Sam” He put the phone down.
“I’m sorry Mr. Ford. I’m sorry. I know who you are. I’ve read all about you”
Nate was already bored with him and took another sip of his scotch while the stranger kept mentioning all his achievements with IYS.
“… but I know that when your son needed help, they backed away and to do what they did to you after your wife died…”
“You know there’s a part of the conversation where I punch you in the neck nine or ten times, we’re coming up to that pretty quickly”
“I’m just here to offer you a job”
“What have you got?” he asked with false interest. Something was bothering him about this guy.
“Do you know anything about airplanes design?” he leaned over.
“I can give it a shot. You give me a pencil and one of those little rulers.” - Seriously? Who is this guy?-
“Somebody stole my airplane designs.”
Nate finally saw some light. “Ah, I see.. and you would like me to find them, that’s it!”
“No, I know where they are. I want you to steal them back!”
Nate turned around shocked. “You know I’m not a thief, right?”
“Thieves, I’ve got. I’ve already hired some people.” He passed him some files “What I need is one honest man to watch over them.”
“Look, Mr…” Nate looked through the files.
“Dubenich, Victor Dubenich. Do you recognize these names?”
“Yes, I’ve chased all of them one time or another. Parker? You’ve got Parker?”
“Do you know anyone better?”
“No, but she’s insane!”
“Are you in?”
Nate shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s not going to work. All these people work alone, no exception”
“But they will for 300 thousand dollar each. And for you, for running it. It’s double that.”
Now that caught his attention.
“and it’s completely off the books. Look at me, I’m desperate here. And that’s just the salary, there is a bonus. Pierson is insured by IYS, your old bosses. Mr. Ford, how bad do you want to screw the insurance company that was going to let your son die and kicked you on a street?”
Nate looked unsure. This job smelled bad and theft wasn’t his thing. But the job interview went bad that morning and he really needed the money. He couldn’t keep up with the bills and soon he was going to be in trouble.
“Okay, Mr. Dubenich. You have convinced me. When are we going to do this thing?”
“Tonight. You are going to meet everyone in the building in front of Pierson Office” He got up. “Thank you Mr. Ford”
Nate sighed. He better call Sam and tell him that he wasn’t going to be home after all.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
That evening Nate found himself in an abandoned building in the city of Chicago instead of being at home with his son.
"Nathan Ford. You haven't been seen around for a long time."
Nate turned around at the sound of the voice the deep voice "Eliot Spencer."
The younger man nodded. "This isn't really your type of job."
"Not yours either"
“I am a retrieval specialist. you though...” He was still looking at him suspiciously.
"What can I say? Things change"
"Wow this is a party" A young dark man joined the group. "What's up people?"
"Who are you?" Eliot asked already not liking the guy.
"Alec Hardison, computer genius at you service. " he smirked.
"Really?"
"Hi," a voice startled all of them.
"Where did you come from?" Eliot looked at the young blonde woman.
She shrugged. "From the roof, of course. So when are we starting?"
"What no hello? Or maybe your name?" Hardison tried to approach her.
"I don't do social. I work alone, but the offer seemed interesting. I love money!"
"There's something wrong with you!" Eliot commented.
"Guys, this is Parker!" Nate tried to intervene.
"Hello, Nathan!" she exclaimed "strange seeing you on this side for a change.”
"Yeah... are we ready to go? I don't really want to stay here more than we have to"
"Lead the way, boss!" Hardison said.
And so their first heist began.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
A couple of hours later Nate was quietly laying on the bed sipping through various bottles of alcohol that he took from the hotel minibar. The job had been relatively successful and everything worked out okay. Unfortunately he wasn’t feeling so good about it. He had always considered himself a good man, but now he was a thief. He felt dirty, like everything he ever believed had been taken away from him. To be honest he had been feeling like that for a long time, too long. So he kept drinking to forget or maybe to forgive himself, or just to feel something that wasn’t disgust. He needed the money, that's all. He needed to provide his son some stability. It was a onetime thing. But what was strange that for a moment that evening he felt good, he had enjoyed what they were doing. Parker had been right; he actually liked being the bad guy for once. And that was what was scaring him most. He passed out after drink number God knows what and woke up abruptly with the ringing of his mobile phone.
"Yeah," he answered.
"You screwed me!" came Dubenich angry voice from the other side.
"What?"
"The designs never got to me."
"No, I watched them go out" he was wide awake now.
"I don't know what you saw but I received nothing!”
"I told you, you couldn't trust them"
"It was not my job to trust them, that was yours. I'm freezing the payments. I'm freezing all the payments."
After agreeing to meet in a secluded building, Nate got up and had quick shower. He had a bad feeling about everything. That day was definitely not a good day to die.
Of course his feelings about Dubenich had been right all along. The guy hired them for a job, didn’t pay them and then tried to kill them. He was going to hurt him so bad. He had played him and used him and that was something that Nathan Ford didn’t take lightly. But of course they were all compromised, Dubenich knew their faces. No, they needed a new player and Nate knew exactly who to get.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"I thought you were great" He said still clapping.
The brunette woman looked up startled to hear his voice but after she recognized him she slowly smiled "My only fan!"
He hadn't seen her since that night they kissed at the hospital, the day he found out that she was responsible for the greatest gift of all: his son life. Oh, she was as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more. Has it really been two years? He had seen the ad of the theatre play on the newspaper and recognized her name. He had actually considered coming to see her, but memories of his late wife kept him from going.
“I’m a citizen now, honest” she kept smiling. She did tell him that on the balcony.
Of course he doubted how much of that statement was true. “I’m not!”
“You’re playing my side?” Now that was interesting: the noble Nathan Ford playing on the dark side. She looked around to see other people waiting for them. “I’ve always thought you had it in you!”
And that had been remarkably true. In the past they had often worked together to get a lost piece of art. It was an agreement they had, he would close an eye now and then and she would help get some merchandise back from some small marks. She often told that he was good playing on her side, that he could have done that for living. Occasionally it had been tempting, but he had his family to consider, also he wasn’t a thief…
He looked down embarrassed “Hmm, are you in?"
She nodded. “I wouldn’t miss this!”
"Alright, let's go break the law one more time!" And it felt good to say it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
And they did break the law. Dubenich was slowly falling into their trap and he had no idea about it.
“Your shot!” Eliot passed him a bottle of beer.
“No, thanks. Five corner” Nate picked up a stick and got ready for his shot.
“You look better. From when we started”
“Yeah”. He actually felt better. For some unknown reason he didn’t need the alcohol to get him through the day. He was having a vague suspicion, though, what was making him feel better.
“Yeah, and that bothers you.”
“Well, this isn’t supposed to feel…”
“Good” Eliot chuckled. “That’s not hard to figure out. Dubenich screwed you. He cheated by stealing from that other company and your good guy brain sees him as the bad guy. Your conscience is clear.”
Why does lately everyone seem to know him so well? “You want to take your shot!” Nate dismissed him.
“Listen, I’m sorry about what happened to you”
“You don’t know anything about that”
“Everybody knows. A guy like you goes off the street. A lot of people notice. And it was a bad story too. The insurance company not wanting to pay for your son treatment because it was experimental, the anonymous donation that saved him just to then lose your wife that same week in a car accident. And then of course, IYS started an investigation and right after your wife’s funeral they kicked you out of your house and took all your money. You should have kept one of those Monet you found” He smiled.
That was enough. “Eliot, you and I are not friends”
“Right, because you have so many of them!” He retorted back. “Incoming!” And he left the room.
Nate turned around to see Sophie approaching him. They haven’t really been alone since this all new collaboration started and he was slightly afraid every time she wanted to talk to him.
“Hey, could you help me with this earpiece?”
“Yeah, why don’t you ask Hardison”
“Nate, come on” she whined.
He sighed and reluctantly took the earpiece from her hand. He slowly moved her hair from her ear. Suddenly everything from that kiss was coming back to him. The smell of her shampoo and how nice her hair felt under his touch, how delicate her lips felt under his and the taste of her mouth.
He cleared his throat and took a step back. “Here you go.”
“Thanks” she looked at him straight in his eyes and he suddenly felt like he was naked. “So this time you really are inside my head.”
They were so close. “Sophie…” He tried to put an end to their awkward situation.
“How is Sam?” she asked suddenly.
“Sam? He’s fine, thanks for asking. He’s staying at a friend’s house while I’m here.” He was relieved by the change of subject.
“He didn’t have any more health scares, did he?” she sincerely sounded interested.
“No, fortunately no. They keep doing test on him to make sure. He’s not really happy about it.” He chuckled. “All he wants to do is going to school and play baseball”
She smiled a little but then her face went serious. “Nate, I’m sorry for what IYS put you through because of the anonymous donation. To treat you like that after all you did for them, especially after you lost Maggie. I still can’t believe it the accident happened the night…”
“I really don’t want to talk about it” he interrupted her. He had always felt guilty about it. While he had been kissing another woman on that balcony, his wife had just been hit by another car.
“Right” she nodded in understanding. “Well, it’s going to be a big day tomorrow. I’ll better go to bed” and she left him alone.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The plan had worked perfectly. Dubenich paid for screwing with them and they made a lot of money at the same time. Nate actually felt good about it, really good. He had left the other four at the park and was now getting ready to go to the airport.
“Going somewhere?”
Nate turned around smiling. He really didn’t want to know how she managed to get inside his hotel room. “Sophie Devereaux, didn’t we just agree not to see each other again?”
She shrugged. “When do I actually follow your orders?”
“It was an one show only.” He reminded her.
“But you were good at it.” She grinned. “Plus you enjoyed yourself.”
“Sophie, I’m not a thief. I needed money to get back on track and provide stability to Sam, that’s it”
“But what else are you going to do Nate? Drink all day?”
“She is right!” a male voice joined in.
“What are you doing here?”
Eliot grinned. “I’m worried that without some support you are going to fall apart again.”
“Oh, I’m touched.”
“A guy like you can’t stay out of the game. You need the chase.”
“I’ll managed”
“I’ve never had that cooler time on a job”
“Of course Hardison is here too” Nate groaned closing his suitcase.
“And I’ve got focus issue, brother, but you’ve kept me right on” the hacker added.
“I’m really good at one thing..”
“Parker,” he saw her at the window.
“Only one thing, that’s it. But you, you know other things. I can’t stop doing my thing, I can’t retire.”
“So, what do you say Nate?” Sophie slowly approached him. “You pick the jobs”
“My job is helping people. I find bad guys.”
“So go and find s some bay guys. Bad guys have money”
Nate looked around. They were all eager for him to say yes.
“Black king, white knight” Sophie insisted.
Nate sighed. “Okay, okay. But you guys have to move to L.A. there is no way I’m moving my son”
“Yeah!” Hardison threw his fist in the air. “L.A., here I come!”
Part 2