Fic: Losing Ground [18]
Fic: Losing Ground [18]
Author: LMX
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Nate/Sophie, Alec/Parker
AN: See parts [2] and [3].
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
[18]
"You don't con your own crew. You taught me that, Eliot." Sophie sat down, perched on the edge of the chair and studied them all for a moment. "So I have something to tell you all. About me." Sophie looked down at her hands, clasped and unclasped them a couple of times in her lap. Slowly, she reached up and took off her glasses, folded the arms and set them on the table in front of her to free up her hands so she could keep signing. "My mother had a genetic eye disorder," she said, without taking her eyes off the glasses. "She started losing her sight at thirty and was legally blind by the time she was forty five. You've all seen these," Sophie gestured once at the glasses, the symbol for something she had long ignored, still not meeting their eyes. She wasn't sure she'd ever been so truthful with anyone in her life, she didn't want to know what that would look like reflected back at her. "I've been to see a specialist, I've inherited my mother's condition."
Nate stood decisively, pushing away the lurching, sick feeling in his stomach. "What can we do?"
"There's nothing, Nate," Sophie replied, shaking her head. "It just... is."
"Right." Nate stepped forward, taking his place at the front of the room. "Hardison, research. Get me anything digital you can find, clinical trials, experimental techniques. Parker, Eliot, you're going in for any hard copy files Hardison might be able to locate but not get to. Sophie: you're posing as the patient."
- 0 -
"If Sophie's going blind we're going to need a new grifter." Parker was matter of fact, but her frown gave away her unhappiness. "A not-Sophie grifter." She observed. "I don't want a not-Sophie grifter."
Nate flinched a little and glanced at Sophie's tight lipped expression. The truth was, they'd found nothing in the two weeks they'd committed to scouring the medical world, and the world of alternative therapies, for answers to this.
"Nate. I think you're going have to let this one go," Sophie said quietly, pulling him close as if it was him losing out here.
"Sophie, I can't just…" he started, speaking into her shoulder. It wasn't him losing, he reminded himself. This was Sophie's world that was falling apart, he really had no right to feel like he wanted to cry over this.
"It's all right, Nate," Sophie soothed. "I've known this was coming for most of my life. I'm not saying I don't hate it, mind. I really, really hate it." She laughed, briefly. It didn't sound bitter like Nate wanted it to. "But we can't give up everything for this. There are still people out there who need our help."
"We're falling apart, Sophie," he whispered, knowing the truth in it. They couldn't afford this.
"No, we're not," Sophie chided. "Do I look like I'm falling apart to you? Alec's finding his feet again, he's doing fine. We have each other, Nate. We're much more than a team, now. We're family."
"I just..." He stood and stepped away from her, knowing he couldn't be calm about this. He needed to do *something*. "Tell me what I can do."
"I'm going to need to learn how to get about better," Sophie offered, a teasing smile in her voice. "If you're sure you still want me working I'm going to need to be able to get around without one of you on my arm."
"You're the best at what you do, Sophie," Nate said, because it was true and it was what she needed to hear.
"I was the best at what I do, Nate," she corrected him. "The moment I start putting lives at risk I'm stopping. Eliot's a good grifter, and Parker's excellent when the situation's right."
Nate shook his head and sat back down, pulling her close again. "I need Eliot watching our backs, and Parker to manage access and acquisition. You're the only one, Sophie."
"I won't put anyone's lives at risk." She shook her head, but submitted to Nate's attentions, curling back around his shoulder.
"We put our own lives at risk, Sophie," Eliot said from the doorway. "There's where the rush comes from."
And that was that. The next job came and went, and as happened so rarely, Nate Ford settled for losing.
- 0 -
"Nate, I can't see him." It seemed so stupid, to be panicking over this, but she needed a read to get into the role. She needed to know what the mark wanted, to be able to cast herself as the right lure for the hook. If she couldn't see his face...
"He's on your right by the bar," Nate reassured her. "Black jacket, blond hair."
"No, Nate, you don't understand. This con rests on me being able to..." She couldn't get the words out, couldn't explain how the grift worked so closely with image and expression. She could feel the pressure welling up in her chest and she turned and walked back out of the room, forcing her breathing even in the cooler hallway outside and ignoring the curious glances of the doormen.
"Take a breath, Sophie." Nate's voice in her ear was soothing. "You can still do this."
"I can't, Nate," she sobbed. "I'm not..."
"Sophie, honey." Eliot's voice broke in. "Get yourself back in character, back in position. I'm gonna bring him to you, alright?"
"But you'll be blown for the next part of the con," she objected, even as she wanted to jump on that idea. She needed someone at her shoulder right now. She'd never felt so exposed in the con.
"I've got this," Eliot enforced. "Nate'll find a way to work it around me."
Taking a couple of deep breaths, and chiding herself for such an amateur display of nerves, Sophie forced herself back into the other room, taking up her position with an expression of elegant boredom and scanning the room carefully. She identified Eliot before the man he was escorting back to her.
Not sure what he had said to get their mark walking towards her quite so determinedly, Sophie focused on his face, working on the simple things. Registering the assessing look, the expensive suit and the fake watch, she felt Eliot come and stand at her shoulder, way closer than he would usually. She took that as a hint, leaning into him slightly as he settled. The mark's eyes lit up slightly and Sophie wondered what on earth Eliot had said to him.
Braver at her grift now that she could see the man's face, and with Eliot stood at her shoulder, Sophie relaxed, and started laying down the foundations of her craft.
-
Master Post
Author: LMX
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Nate/Sophie, Alec/Parker
AN: See parts [2] and [3].
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
[18]
"You don't con your own crew. You taught me that, Eliot." Sophie sat down, perched on the edge of the chair and studied them all for a moment. "So I have something to tell you all. About me." Sophie looked down at her hands, clasped and unclasped them a couple of times in her lap. Slowly, she reached up and took off her glasses, folded the arms and set them on the table in front of her to free up her hands so she could keep signing. "My mother had a genetic eye disorder," she said, without taking her eyes off the glasses. "She started losing her sight at thirty and was legally blind by the time she was forty five. You've all seen these," Sophie gestured once at the glasses, the symbol for something she had long ignored, still not meeting their eyes. She wasn't sure she'd ever been so truthful with anyone in her life, she didn't want to know what that would look like reflected back at her. "I've been to see a specialist, I've inherited my mother's condition."
Nate stood decisively, pushing away the lurching, sick feeling in his stomach. "What can we do?"
"There's nothing, Nate," Sophie replied, shaking her head. "It just... is."
"Right." Nate stepped forward, taking his place at the front of the room. "Hardison, research. Get me anything digital you can find, clinical trials, experimental techniques. Parker, Eliot, you're going in for any hard copy files Hardison might be able to locate but not get to. Sophie: you're posing as the patient."
- 0 -
"If Sophie's going blind we're going to need a new grifter." Parker was matter of fact, but her frown gave away her unhappiness. "A not-Sophie grifter." She observed. "I don't want a not-Sophie grifter."
Nate flinched a little and glanced at Sophie's tight lipped expression. The truth was, they'd found nothing in the two weeks they'd committed to scouring the medical world, and the world of alternative therapies, for answers to this.
"Nate. I think you're going have to let this one go," Sophie said quietly, pulling him close as if it was him losing out here.
"Sophie, I can't just…" he started, speaking into her shoulder. It wasn't him losing, he reminded himself. This was Sophie's world that was falling apart, he really had no right to feel like he wanted to cry over this.
"It's all right, Nate," Sophie soothed. "I've known this was coming for most of my life. I'm not saying I don't hate it, mind. I really, really hate it." She laughed, briefly. It didn't sound bitter like Nate wanted it to. "But we can't give up everything for this. There are still people out there who need our help."
"We're falling apart, Sophie," he whispered, knowing the truth in it. They couldn't afford this.
"No, we're not," Sophie chided. "Do I look like I'm falling apart to you? Alec's finding his feet again, he's doing fine. We have each other, Nate. We're much more than a team, now. We're family."
"I just..." He stood and stepped away from her, knowing he couldn't be calm about this. He needed to do *something*. "Tell me what I can do."
"I'm going to need to learn how to get about better," Sophie offered, a teasing smile in her voice. "If you're sure you still want me working I'm going to need to be able to get around without one of you on my arm."
"You're the best at what you do, Sophie," Nate said, because it was true and it was what she needed to hear.
"I was the best at what I do, Nate," she corrected him. "The moment I start putting lives at risk I'm stopping. Eliot's a good grifter, and Parker's excellent when the situation's right."
Nate shook his head and sat back down, pulling her close again. "I need Eliot watching our backs, and Parker to manage access and acquisition. You're the only one, Sophie."
"I won't put anyone's lives at risk." She shook her head, but submitted to Nate's attentions, curling back around his shoulder.
"We put our own lives at risk, Sophie," Eliot said from the doorway. "There's where the rush comes from."
And that was that. The next job came and went, and as happened so rarely, Nate Ford settled for losing.
- 0 -
"Nate, I can't see him." It seemed so stupid, to be panicking over this, but she needed a read to get into the role. She needed to know what the mark wanted, to be able to cast herself as the right lure for the hook. If she couldn't see his face...
"He's on your right by the bar," Nate reassured her. "Black jacket, blond hair."
"No, Nate, you don't understand. This con rests on me being able to..." She couldn't get the words out, couldn't explain how the grift worked so closely with image and expression. She could feel the pressure welling up in her chest and she turned and walked back out of the room, forcing her breathing even in the cooler hallway outside and ignoring the curious glances of the doormen.
"Take a breath, Sophie." Nate's voice in her ear was soothing. "You can still do this."
"I can't, Nate," she sobbed. "I'm not..."
"Sophie, honey." Eliot's voice broke in. "Get yourself back in character, back in position. I'm gonna bring him to you, alright?"
"But you'll be blown for the next part of the con," she objected, even as she wanted to jump on that idea. She needed someone at her shoulder right now. She'd never felt so exposed in the con.
"I've got this," Eliot enforced. "Nate'll find a way to work it around me."
Taking a couple of deep breaths, and chiding herself for such an amateur display of nerves, Sophie forced herself back into the other room, taking up her position with an expression of elegant boredom and scanning the room carefully. She identified Eliot before the man he was escorting back to her.
Not sure what he had said to get their mark walking towards her quite so determinedly, Sophie focused on his face, working on the simple things. Registering the assessing look, the expensive suit and the fake watch, she felt Eliot come and stand at her shoulder, way closer than he would usually. She took that as a hint, leaning into him slightly as he settled. The mark's eyes lit up slightly and Sophie wondered what on earth Eliot had said to him.
Braver at her grift now that she could see the man's face, and with Eliot stood at her shoulder, Sophie relaxed, and started laying down the foundations of her craft.
-
Master Post