Leverage Fic: The Apple, Chapter 1/4: Spencer (Team, Aimee, OFC) PG
Title: The Apple, Chapter One: Spencer
Characters: Nate, Sophie, Parker, Eliot, Hardison, Aimee, implied Eliot/Aimee
Word Count: ~1,100
Rating: PG
Summary: Aimee comes to Leverage HQ to talk to Nate and Sophie.
Spoilers: For “The Two-Horse Job” (1x3).
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of Leverage. Wish I were.
Notes: This is Chapter One of “The Apple,” which was meant to be a one-shot, but shanachie_quill is a fic pusher! Feeding me prompts like that-she is trouble. Now there will be at least multiple parts to this series. :) Feedback is appreciated.
Prologue
~*~*~*~
“I really don’t know-she just said she needed to talk to you and me,” Nate said.
“It has to be something about Eliot, right?” Sophie asked, filling the two mugs on the countertop with freshly made tea. “Otherwise, why wouldn’t she just call him?”
“I guess. But whatever it is, she didn’t want to tell me on the phone. It must be important if she was coming all the way here.”
“Hmm…” Sophie said as she sipped her tea thoughtfully.
A knock on the door interrupted their silent musings, and they both got up to answer.
“Hi,” Aimee said nervously as they opened the door.
“Aimee, how have you been?” Nate said cordially.
“Good,” she said, looking down the hall. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“Of course!” Sophie said, trying to put her more at ease. “Come in. Can I get you a cup of tea?”
“Sure,” Aimee said. She looked down the hall again. “Come on, honey!”
Pounding footsteps preceded the appearance of a girl with a wavy, brown ponytail, a band-aid on her forehead, and bright blue eyes.
“Hiiiii,” Nate said. “Um, Soph?”
Sophie turned back from her tea-pouring to look at the people in the doorway. “What? Oh…”
“Yeah,” Aimee said sheepishly as they entered. “This is my daughter, Spencer. Is he…”
“No, I sent him out on recon with Hardison. Told Hardison to keep him out as long as possible,” Nate muttered before brightening his tone and extending his hand to the little girl.
“I’m Nate. What happened to your head there, Spencer?”
“I was practicing jumps on my bike and the ramp fell apart when I came down on it too hard. Got these too.” She pulled up her pant legs so Nate could see the multiple scrapes and bruises.
“Ouch.”
The girl shrugged. “Didn’t really hurt. Bent the wheel on my bike though.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Nate glanced at Sophie, who was still staring at the girl with a bemused smile. “So, I guess we need to talk, Aimee?”
“Is there somewhere she can…?”
“Yeah-hang on. Parker!”
“Coming!”
Parker slid down the narrow railing of Nate’s spiral staircase, landing gracefully in front of the group.
“Cooool…” Spencer said.
“Want me to show you how?” Parker offered. “Oh, hi Aimee!”
“Actually, Parker, can you find something to do with Spencer while her mother and I talk?”
Parker inspected the child for a moment.
“That’s funny,” Parker snorted. “Her name is Spencer and she looks just like-”
Sophie cleared her throat.
“Ooooh,” Parker said under her breath, her eyes shifting from Aimee to Spencer.
“What?” the child asked.
“Is there something fun you two can do upstairs?” Sophie suggested.
Parker’s eyes lit up. “Know how to pick a lock?”
At Spencer’s enthusiastic grin, Sophie furrowed her brow and shook her head at Parker.
“Um, or…maybe we can draw?”
Sophie nodded.
“Yeah, let’s draw,” Parker said, guiding the girl up the stairs. “I’ve got lots of pencils and stuff.”
The girl looked somewhat disappointed, but followed her anyway.
As soon as they were gone, Nate’s expression hardened.
“Somehow I don’t think it’s me and Sophie you need to be talking to. In fact, the talk you need to have is about nine years overdue, am I right?”
“Nate, you have to understand-”
“You kept him from his child!”
“I didn’t know where he was! I tried to find him, but he didn’t want to be found!”
Nate started to speak again when Sophie put a firm hand on his arm to quiet him.
“Let’s go get that tea,” she said gently, leading the other two to the kitchenette, where she prepared a third cup.
“When Eliot left, I didn’t know I was pregnant,” Aimee continued, once she had the warm mug in her hands. “I had just gotten married, and he took off.”
“And by the time you knew…” Sophie said sympathetically.
“He was just-gone. No one could find him. And when I didn’t hear from him at all for so long, well, I started to think maybe he was dead. I really didn’t think I would ever see him again.”
With a deep sigh, Nate got up and poured himself a whiskey, rubbing his forehead before he took a long sip. “So-why come to us first?”
“When you came down to help my dad, I could tell that Eliot wasn’t the same. Whatever he was doing during those eight years, it changed him.”
Nate simply nodded and took another sip of his drink.
“But when you all started working to take down Voss, I started to see the old Eliot again. So I thought that what he needed then wasn’t a kid-it was more time with his team, so he could find himself again. I haven’t talked to him since you all left, so I needed to ask you two: Is he ready?”
Sophie smiled and opened her mouth to speak when Eliot and Hardison barreled through the door.
“I don’t care that it’s Wednesday, or why that’s important-I’m not going to the comic shop with you!” Eliot growled. “Like an hour in the van with you yapping about the new Transformers movie wasn’t enough.”
Nate raised a finger to get their attention, but they were too absorbed in their argument to notice the three people standing in the kitchenette.
“It’s all fighting and explosions-your two favorite things!” Hardison said. “How can you not like those movies?”
“Because they’re fighting robots! It’s not-“ Eliot stopped and clenched his fists in annoyance. “I’m not having this argument with you again.”
A loud whoop made them both look up at the staircase. A young girl came flying down the railing and fell off the end, hitting the hardwood floor and rolling over a few times before popping back up on her feet.
“That was awesome, Parker!” she called as her new friend followed her gingerly down the stairs.
“Hey, nice roll,” Eliot said. “Who’s this?”
Parker clamped her lips shut, so Eliot looked to the child. Her hair was hanging in her eyes, and she flicked it away with a practiced toss of her head.
“I’m Spencer.”
“How ’bout that?” he said cheerfully. “My last name’s-”
He stopped when he noticed Hardison and Parker looking at each other with widened eyes, and quickly turned to check his surroundings. That’s when he finally saw his former girlfriend, standing at the kitchen counter with Nate and Sophie. Aimee looked up at him guiltily.
“Hi, Eliot.”
Continue to Chapter Two: Eliot
Characters: Nate, Sophie, Parker, Eliot, Hardison, Aimee, implied Eliot/Aimee
Word Count: ~1,100
Rating: PG
Summary: Aimee comes to Leverage HQ to talk to Nate and Sophie.
Spoilers: For “The Two-Horse Job” (1x3).
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of Leverage. Wish I were.
Notes: This is Chapter One of “The Apple,” which was meant to be a one-shot, but shanachie_quill is a fic pusher! Feeding me prompts like that-she is trouble. Now there will be at least multiple parts to this series. :) Feedback is appreciated.
Prologue
~*~*~*~
“I really don’t know-she just said she needed to talk to you and me,” Nate said.
“It has to be something about Eliot, right?” Sophie asked, filling the two mugs on the countertop with freshly made tea. “Otherwise, why wouldn’t she just call him?”
“I guess. But whatever it is, she didn’t want to tell me on the phone. It must be important if she was coming all the way here.”
“Hmm…” Sophie said as she sipped her tea thoughtfully.
A knock on the door interrupted their silent musings, and they both got up to answer.
“Hi,” Aimee said nervously as they opened the door.
“Aimee, how have you been?” Nate said cordially.
“Good,” she said, looking down the hall. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“Of course!” Sophie said, trying to put her more at ease. “Come in. Can I get you a cup of tea?”
“Sure,” Aimee said. She looked down the hall again. “Come on, honey!”
Pounding footsteps preceded the appearance of a girl with a wavy, brown ponytail, a band-aid on her forehead, and bright blue eyes.
“Hiiiii,” Nate said. “Um, Soph?”
Sophie turned back from her tea-pouring to look at the people in the doorway. “What? Oh…”
“Yeah,” Aimee said sheepishly as they entered. “This is my daughter, Spencer. Is he…”
“No, I sent him out on recon with Hardison. Told Hardison to keep him out as long as possible,” Nate muttered before brightening his tone and extending his hand to the little girl.
“I’m Nate. What happened to your head there, Spencer?”
“I was practicing jumps on my bike and the ramp fell apart when I came down on it too hard. Got these too.” She pulled up her pant legs so Nate could see the multiple scrapes and bruises.
“Ouch.”
The girl shrugged. “Didn’t really hurt. Bent the wheel on my bike though.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Nate glanced at Sophie, who was still staring at the girl with a bemused smile. “So, I guess we need to talk, Aimee?”
“Is there somewhere she can…?”
“Yeah-hang on. Parker!”
“Coming!”
Parker slid down the narrow railing of Nate’s spiral staircase, landing gracefully in front of the group.
“Cooool…” Spencer said.
“Want me to show you how?” Parker offered. “Oh, hi Aimee!”
“Actually, Parker, can you find something to do with Spencer while her mother and I talk?”
Parker inspected the child for a moment.
“That’s funny,” Parker snorted. “Her name is Spencer and she looks just like-”
Sophie cleared her throat.
“Ooooh,” Parker said under her breath, her eyes shifting from Aimee to Spencer.
“What?” the child asked.
“Is there something fun you two can do upstairs?” Sophie suggested.
Parker’s eyes lit up. “Know how to pick a lock?”
At Spencer’s enthusiastic grin, Sophie furrowed her brow and shook her head at Parker.
“Um, or…maybe we can draw?”
Sophie nodded.
“Yeah, let’s draw,” Parker said, guiding the girl up the stairs. “I’ve got lots of pencils and stuff.”
The girl looked somewhat disappointed, but followed her anyway.
As soon as they were gone, Nate’s expression hardened.
“Somehow I don’t think it’s me and Sophie you need to be talking to. In fact, the talk you need to have is about nine years overdue, am I right?”
“Nate, you have to understand-”
“You kept him from his child!”
“I didn’t know where he was! I tried to find him, but he didn’t want to be found!”
Nate started to speak again when Sophie put a firm hand on his arm to quiet him.
“Let’s go get that tea,” she said gently, leading the other two to the kitchenette, where she prepared a third cup.
“When Eliot left, I didn’t know I was pregnant,” Aimee continued, once she had the warm mug in her hands. “I had just gotten married, and he took off.”
“And by the time you knew…” Sophie said sympathetically.
“He was just-gone. No one could find him. And when I didn’t hear from him at all for so long, well, I started to think maybe he was dead. I really didn’t think I would ever see him again.”
With a deep sigh, Nate got up and poured himself a whiskey, rubbing his forehead before he took a long sip. “So-why come to us first?”
“When you came down to help my dad, I could tell that Eliot wasn’t the same. Whatever he was doing during those eight years, it changed him.”
Nate simply nodded and took another sip of his drink.
“But when you all started working to take down Voss, I started to see the old Eliot again. So I thought that what he needed then wasn’t a kid-it was more time with his team, so he could find himself again. I haven’t talked to him since you all left, so I needed to ask you two: Is he ready?”
Sophie smiled and opened her mouth to speak when Eliot and Hardison barreled through the door.
“I don’t care that it’s Wednesday, or why that’s important-I’m not going to the comic shop with you!” Eliot growled. “Like an hour in the van with you yapping about the new Transformers movie wasn’t enough.”
Nate raised a finger to get their attention, but they were too absorbed in their argument to notice the three people standing in the kitchenette.
“It’s all fighting and explosions-your two favorite things!” Hardison said. “How can you not like those movies?”
“Because they’re fighting robots! It’s not-“ Eliot stopped and clenched his fists in annoyance. “I’m not having this argument with you again.”
A loud whoop made them both look up at the staircase. A young girl came flying down the railing and fell off the end, hitting the hardwood floor and rolling over a few times before popping back up on her feet.
“That was awesome, Parker!” she called as her new friend followed her gingerly down the stairs.
“Hey, nice roll,” Eliot said. “Who’s this?”
Parker clamped her lips shut, so Eliot looked to the child. Her hair was hanging in her eyes, and she flicked it away with a practiced toss of her head.
“I’m Spencer.”
“How ’bout that?” he said cheerfully. “My last name’s-”
He stopped when he noticed Hardison and Parker looking at each other with widened eyes, and quickly turned to check his surroundings. That’s when he finally saw his former girlfriend, standing at the kitchen counter with Nate and Sophie. Aimee looked up at him guiltily.
“Hi, Eliot.”
Continue to Chapter Two: Eliot