Tranformation (A Leverage Fanfic) Chapter 4
“Man sometimes I even impress myself,” Hardison crooned. He was settled in a single chair with his laptop perched on a table less then an arm’s length away, a full bottle of orange soda right beside it and the clicker in his hand. He continued, “I mean seriously, do you guys have an idea how hard this stuff was to get into? I don’t think the President has this kind of access! I ain’t even sure we’re talking American ops and if we are things are a lot more hinky then we thought. Whoever it is though has got plenty to hide, believe me. They got some real creature features going on and I’m hoping it’s not from tax payer money.”
Eliot rolled his eyes from where he had sat on the larger of the two couches, arms crossed over his chest with feet propped and crossed at the ankles on the table near the laptop. Like everyone else he hadn’t exactly been told what this little get together was about.
The hitter huffed out, “You gotta point or are ya gonna to spend all our time here proving what a geek you are?”
Hardison looked like he honestly wanted to stick his tongue out at the group muscle but instead pointed his clicker towards the screens and made a display come up.
“Geek power baby. It got me where I needed to be. You see I kinda figured some of this info might be useful to know given all too current events. I don’t think our not so friendly buds are ready to give up on their playmates quite yet.”
Sophie sent the hacker a warning look for his bad phrasing but didn’t say a word on the subject from where she was accommodated on the smaller couch. Neither Nate nor Parker was present at the little impromptu get together but that didn’t mean they were totally out of hearing range.
Hardison pushed his palms together and bowed his head in a mock apology before continuing his would be lecture, “Obviously when doing experiments you’re trying to achieve something. Same can be said for these guys. From the looks of things they’ve been looking for their, uhm, unwilling participants anywhere they can get them. The records basically say they spotted Parker and assumed she was alone. When they tried to get at our girl Nate interfered so was taken along for the ride.”
Eliot’s eyebrows drew together, “Wait a minute. So you’re sayin’ it was just bad luck they got taken? Wrong place, wrong time?”
“Pretty much,” Hardison shrugged at the doubtful tones. “Seems like there aren’t a lot of people signing up to be willing lab rats; go figure. The bad guys saw what they thought was an easy target and went for it. People go missing all the time and no one questions it. Since no one supposedly would notice their absence, the Evil Science League wouldn’t feel the need to make it look like they were dead. So basically…”
The sound of rough coughing interrupted the words that would have followed. Three pairs of eyes turned automatically towards the commotion.
Nate was standing the bottom of the staircase, one hand over his mouth and the other braced on the railing for support. He cast listless eyes towards the group watching him and unsteadily pulled his hand back to look more stable than he felt. He didn’t like feeling this weak while under their scrutiny. His eyes flicked towards the multiple screens and he frowned at what he saw.
“What’s…” Nate stopped long enough to clear his throat when his voice came out a little more cracked than he liked, “What’s going on in here?”
Hardison took the moment to look guilty, a quick click turning the screens blank.
“Nothing you need to worry about Nate, just a little recon.” Eliot spoke up. He had shifted so his elbow rested on the back of the couch and he could see his lover.
Nate honestly didn’t look like he even needed to be standing, let alone traveling down a staircase. He also didn’t look particularly convinced with the quick explanation, “Recon on what?”
“Just looking into some potential jobs,” Sophie chimed in with a smooth voice.
The mastermind’s suspicion hadn’t been eased away, “I didn’t know we were looking into taking clients.”
“Nate,” Sophie answered in a soft, breathy voice meant to comfort, “It was just to pass time, really. “
He moved carefully forward, stopping only when he was close enough to lean against the back of the couch braced on crossed arms. Nate gave the present members of his team a quick glance to gauge their faces and slowly shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not buying it.”
Sophie frowned, a look of concern marring her pretty features, “Nate, you should be in bed. We can take care of this.”
“I don’t even know what this is,” He pointed out, choosing to overlook the bed comment. There was no need in starting a pointless argument.
“All the more reason to let us handle it,” Sophie started gently, though her tone was becoming firmer at the end.
Eliot and Hardison shared a look. They knew Sophie was fighting a loosing battle.
Having taken the brunt of the physical injury, Parker was slow to recover. It didn’t help that she refused to accept that jumping off buildings wasn’t considered a relaxing activity. Nate was the real problem. He looked the worse for wear, his skin ashen and his stomach constantly being disagreeable. Parker was practically glowing in comparison.
Where Parker had been getting better, he seemed to be getting weaker with every passing day. His breathing was too shallow. The natural temperature of his body had plummeted, falling once or twice to dangerous levels. A majority of his day was spent sleeping.
It didn’t help that Nate refused to acknowledge a ban to bed when he had the energy to get up. He had been getting stir-crazy up there when he actually managed to stay awake. Incidentally that stubbornness on such matters is most likely how Nate ended up downstairs to begin with. Obviously he was in one of his obstinate moods.
Having made that trip they highly doubted there would be any amount of coaxing that could get him back to his bedroom.
As predicted Nate just shook his head again. He was sick, not an idiot. They were trying to cover something which meant it was either incredibly dangerous or involved something he would be uncomfortable for them to get mixed up with.
With that in mind Nate continued on their small argument, “Sophie, you do remember that I know your con voice right? I know when you’re lying to me.”
The woman in question looked indignant but couldn’t deny it. Instead she turned sharp eyes onto Eliot and Hardison respectively for them to say something.
“Save it,” Nate decided for them. “If it’s too boring you can be pleased in the fact I’ll probably nod off.”
Not waiting for the conformation on what they were up to he moved in front of the couch where he plopped down with less grace than he liked. Slumping back with his eyes closed he took a moment to catch his breath before shifting forward, elbows resting on splayed knees. The movement caused his leg to brush against the man’s beside him.
It earned a critical once over from the hitter. Despite not looking pleased, however, Eliot didn’t bother to argue with Nate at this point. He would have figured it out sooner or later otherwise so that might as well let him know what was going on. It’d save a lot of time and subterfuge in the long run.
Hardison’s lips formed a tight line at Nate settled on the couch. He wasn’t exactly comfortable going over the information with their boss here. He hadn’t intended for him to be present. At least Parker wasn’t.
….Speak of the devil…
Parker slipped into the room seemingly out of nowhere, wide eyed but anxious as she settled on the arm of Sophie’s couch.
“If Nate gets to stay then I do too,” She insisted, shrugging small shoulders at the looks she received, “I’ve been listening anyways. I know more than he does.”
Hardison hesitated and looked at Parker and Nate, “You sure wanna be here for this? I mean some of this stuff… We were going over you guys' kidnapping adventure.”
Nate took a deep breath. He had been afraid it was something like that and he definitely didn’t want his team going into that particular situation aimed for any kind of revenge. Determined he met Hardison’s eyes, “I need to know exactly what’s going on.”
“I’m just sayin, some of this stuff isn’t pretty,“ Hardison insisted, swallowing heavily. He knew what was in the files having been the one to look them up and some of it was, was well downright graphic. He didn’t figure they needed anymore reminders of their short stint as guinea pigs. He cast pleading looks towards the other team members.
Eliot had to agree with Hardison at least on that much. “Nate maybe you and Parker ought to…”
“I’m not a child and I’m not a damn mental invalid. I can handle this.” Nate snapped. He scrubbed his hands over his face in the awkward silence that stretched over the room as a result.
“Just…” Nate said through a puff of air as he shoved hair away from his eyes and licked at his chapped lips, “I’m sorry. I just need to see this, need to know what all this is.” He emphasized his point by making a sweeping gesture with his hands at this, “I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I have to know what I’m working with. If you want to get involved in this I insist on remaining informed.”
This way at least he would have some control over what his team was doing and could hopefully stop things before they went too far. He appreciated what they were trying to do but didn’t want them ending up tied into this mess.
“Might as well go on, not like they wouldn’t catch on eventually anyways,” Eliot told the hacker though from the look in his eyes they shared the same opinion.
Hardison looked to Sophie, waiting for her to object but she just shrugged in surrender. He slowly looked at Parker who was staring steadily at Nate, “Like I said if Nate’s staying then so am I.”
“Yeah, I was afraid of that.” Hardison said in a defeated tone. This was so not what he had in mind when gathering this information.
“Right, okay then,” he gave in. He turned back to the screen and got situated in chair again before bringing the images from before back up.
“Isn’t that the layout of the base we got Parker and Nate out of?” Sophie asked softly, recognizing the floor plan.
“Exactly except I learned a whole lot more about what was going. A little bang, a little boom and bipty bopity boo while I was in.” Hardison explained, his voice closer to normal as he went into work mode.
“But we’re out so why do we want back in?” Parker asked with brows drawn low over her eyes.
“We’re not. I just wanted an easy way to ease into this mess and explain the layout. Before we were just focused on the holding areas. See this room here?” He asked pointing it out with an orange laser pointer, “This is where they did the main experimental procedures. Some really messed up stuff has gone on in there.“
“We already knew they were experimenting though.” Parker and Nate were more then enough proof of that. “What exactly were they trying to do?” Sophie asked.
Hardison chewed on his bottom lip for a second, resolutely focused on the screen. He really didn’t like them being here for this, “Oh you know, a little of this and that. Don’t you guys ever watch horror movies? Not thrillers, totally different genre despite common misconception. I mean the classic Lon Chaney stuff where…
“Quit skipping around the subject. What were those bastards trying to do?” It was Eliot who snapped this time.
Another stretch of silence followed while Hardison rubbed at the back of his neck before finally answering, “Create super soldiers. They were looking to produce a serum that would basically make someone unstoppable. Sorta like the Terminator without all the metal. We’re talking needing less sleep, not needing as much substance like food and stuff to survive, enhanced seeing, hearing, you name it. It’s like a bad Sci-Fi flick come to life.”
“But what did that have to do with me and Nate? I’m not a fighter and he’s too old to be one of those movie guys.” Parker asked, not even considering the insult contained in the words. “I mean Eliot looks much more like the type. He’s got the hair, the muscles, a great butt, the…” She trailed off when she realized everyone was staring at her, “What?”
Hardison shook his head. He thought he heard Eliot snort and mutter something about her not being right.
“Nah, doesn’t work like that. It’s all chemical and how a subject’s body is likely to react. The rest can come later.” Hardison continued in his explanation. He clicked again bringing up different pictures on each of the screens. They showed test subjects from a variety of ages, ethnic groups, gender and build. He focused on the report instead of seeing how the images affected his friends. There were reasons he hadn’t wanted them to join the pow-wow and they were coming up.
“The chemicals they used are a hard combination to make so they were choosy on their test subjects. Most of them were, uhm, most were put through a variety of tests to see how they stood up to the more common side affects before they brought out the big guns.”
He pushed the clicker again bringing up images of a more advanced group of patients. They were connected to a jungle of test wires, attached to various machines and some even being forced into awkward positions. Hardison clicked again trying to clear the screens of the pictures and ended up bringing up a video clip instead by accident in his rush. He heard a sharp intake of breath behind him.
The display showed an unconscious Parker strapped down to a metal table. She had been stripped down. Almost every inch of her body had some kind of medical equipment attached to it, readings from the multitude of blinking machines monitoring every breath and muscle twitch.
From where she was balanced on the arm of the couch Parker whimpered and made an attempt to curl in on herself, slipping off the couch arm and sliding next to Sophie. The older woman pulled the small blond closer, arms protectively around her thin frame.
Nate stiffened and stared at the display through wide, guilt filled eyes even as Hardison finally managed to get the screens to blank out. At hearing her whimper so close to him Nate visibly flinched, eyes screwing tightly shut.
Eliot looked from where Sophie had Parker handled to Nate. He had known this was a bad idea. Without a moment to consider his actions he slipped his arm over the cushion behind Nate, using his other hand to gently force the man to ease back.
“Okay, no more visual aides,” Hardison decided out loud. “Trust me when I say it only gets worse from there.”
He looked over his teammates, waiting for things to settle again. This had ‘WRONG’ written all over it but there was nothing to be done about it at this point. Instead he chugged some orange soda while things got back under control. It was still his job to fill in information. They needed to know what he had found out.
Taking a shaky breath Nate focused on the youngest male in their group, taking the silently offered comfort from Eliot.
“Why Parker? From what I saw… from what happened in that room the shot had been meant for her. Why use her?” Nate tried to clarify.
“That’s where things get interesting, or more disturbing, depending on how you see it. Compliments of her age, flexibility, current health and mental state, creepy dudes decided that girly here was a perfect candidate for the serum,” Hardison passed his eyed over towards Parker, giving her a wink in hopes of making her feel better.
“She passed all their chemical tests with flying colors. Theoretically she should have been ideal. That’s not saying much though. The others they tested that stuff on…” He shook his head again, “Let’s just say the results weren’t always pretty. So far they’ve failed to create their unstoppable soldier.”
“Of course there’s more,” Hardison added after a beat, voice tight with nerves, “Most subjects who were exposed to the serum responded negatively within a few hours. Like horrible, immediate deaths or by lashing out violently. Some of the others just lost it, went into a frenzy and attacked whoever they were with. None of the results were exactly pretty. That’s why Nate was left in the room with Parker after the heroics. While they were adjusting their equipment they wanted to see how he responded to something living around him.”
Nate’s face was almost gray when he heard the news, “You mean I could be a threat to all of you?”
“Well that’s the thing. Your results aren’t exactly normal. In fact they aren’t precedent in the other results.“ Hardison looked over Nate, clearly hesitant to say any more.
“Just say it Alec,” Nate’s voice was resigned this time.
“There’s nothing to say. Your reaction is unique, like I said. Nothing here really lends to a pattern. Your body isn’t reacting in the norm. You’ve outlived most of the subjects but are too weak to be harmful. No one knows what to expect, even those freaky science dudes,” Hardison looked thoughtful for a moment, “Man, if it’s any consolation, it must be killing them not to have any intake on…” He looked around and noticed a series of glares he was receiving. He chuckled tensely and held his hands up in surrender, “My bad. I was just trying to lighten the atmosphere.”
Nate swallowed the bile that tried to chase its way up his throat with the news. He pushed himself up with the determination to put some distance between himself and the rest of the group. He could have hurt them, still could…
It was too much to handle right now. When he made it to his feet he was forced to grasp at air for balance, his equilibrium shot from standing too quickly. The world was spinning again, his body refusing to move like he ordered it to. Instead he was swaying and fighting for stability.
Eliot bolted up from the couch and caught Nate with hands under his arms just as the older man stumbled forward.
“Spots, why the hell is there spots,” Nate demanded weakly as he crumbled against the cushioning Eliot was providing.
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Eliot came back downstairs huffily shoving his hair out of his face as he dug into his pocket for a hair band. He found his teammates still waiting anxiously on the couch for news.
Managing to get his hair back and out of his way he claimed his seat from before. The hitter settled into it with a barely suppressed groan.
“Alright, Nate’s settled in bed with Parker keeping watch. He’s sleeping it off,” He informed them, his voice echoing too hard in his own ears against the stony silence that had stolen over the room.
He buried his face in his hands and took a few calming breaths. This was so not good in so many ways.
After a pause it was Sophie who finally spoke up, “But he’s going to be okay? I mean surely it was just the shock that got to him.” She had intended it to be a comment but her words came out instead like a hopeful question.
“Man, of course he’s going to be okay. He’s Nathan Ford. Nothing stops that man. He’s like a bull dog when it gets its teeth on something, ain’t nothing turning him loose until he’s ready,” Hardison said though his words lacked the enthusiasm needed to make them believable.
They all saw the situation for what it was but none of them wanted to admit it.
Eliot took a few more breathes before pulling his hands away from his face. Somebody had to say it.
“What he needs is help,” He forced his voice to keep an even tone.
“We’re doing everything we can,” came a soft reply from the woman on the other couch.
“I know that Sophie, and it’s not enough. He’s been getting worse everyday and all but passed out down here. The moment I got him to that bed he was lost to the world. He’s worse off then I’ve ever seen him. We’ve started having trouble actually waking him up, you guys know that much. He can’t keep anything in his stomach most of the time and…” Eliot shook his head and stubbornly squeezed his eyes shut, fighting off the emotions desperately clawing to reach to surface.
Finally, he could continue, “He needs a doctor. We, we gotta take him to the hospital. There’s no other way around it.”
“And say what? A mad scientist kidnapped our boss and injected him with super juice? We don’t even know what that stuff is!” Hardison argued. He had been pacing while he listened to the hitter’s words and didn’t like what he was hearing. He added a little more quietly, “Besides, you know he hates hospitals.”
“We know that he’s dying,” Eliot growled back meeting his eyes with a hard look.
Sophie gasped at the theory, hand flying to cover her mouth as her eyes went misty.
“He’s not…” Hardison tried to disagree, sinking into one of the chairs in denial.
“I’m not a doctor but I do know a little more then basic physical aide. There’s too much going wrong and we can’t control it. He’s acting like someone whose been exposed to a poison dose in the worst way. You’ve seen him Hardison. He’s not getting better,” Eliot’s words were hard, clipped. His eyes were a little too bright for him to doubt a word coming out of his mouth.
Hardison stuttered, searching frantically for anything that would contradict what the hitter said.
Sophie blinked back the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes before she spoke. Someone needed to take charge. With a lot of effort she managed a resolute voice, “So we get a doctor then. An overnight emergency clinic. We won’t be questioned as much there.”
Eliot gave her a grateful look for taking over. He had been struggling over a thin line as it was and he wasn’t sure he could try to comfort them and keep his own honest reactions at bay for long. At some point the emotional detachment he had prided himself on had flown out the window and now he was left fighting to hold all the pieces together.
“Looks like Tom Baker flunked rehab just to collapse out of the blue. It’ll at least give them something to look into. I’ll have us a full cover story by time we get there.” Sophie continued in a cool voice that contradicted the bleary look in her eyes.
At least by using Nate’s rehab cover from before the doctor could account for what damage the former alcohol abuse might have caused. It also served to give him an identity so none of this would go into Nate’s medical records.
She turned her eyes to Eliot, fiddling with the edges of her hair to control nervous hands. “You’re going to have to take up the Mark identity again. Play little brother so we’ll have a link for emergency information.” Getting his nod of conformation she looked to Hardison. “Make sure Eliot’s ID is going to hold up, double check Nate’s. No one should be probing that deep but we don’t need anything to go wrong and were sure to have our fair share of enemies lurking out there.”
Eliot stood to his feet with chewed nails biting into his palms. “Right. We gonna give him a while to catch up on his rest or are we going to go ahead and make the call for help?”
Sophie tugged at the dark strands tangled in her fingers thoughtfully. “The sooner the better,” she decided.
“You make the call, I’ll take care of him,” Eliot nodded as he made his way up the stairs.
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It started in the ambulance. Everything seemed all right at first, the paramedics questioning Eliot about his ‘brother’s’ collapse. That's when 'Tom' jerked on the gurney, one hand scrambling to clutch at the brunette's. His vital stats went haywire, with the medical professional snapping out a curse.
As he worked to save Tom's life, the driver seemed to go faster, although to Eliot it seemed time slowed down. As soon as they arrived, Tom was rushed to the ER, vitals still dropping. Eliot was shoved aside, told that he couldn't go any further, that they'd inform him as to what went on as soon as they could.
The last thing Eliot saw before those doors closed was Nate somehow managing to make direct eye contact with him. The fear in his eyes tore at the hitter in a way he didn't know was still possible. Eliot's body froze, even as his mind screamed at him to rush forward, to stay at the other's side. He murmured to himself, “Oh god Nate....”
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In the ER itself, doctors and nurses were rushing to save the patient. Nate had been shoved back down from his attempt to sit up, an air mask over his face. Despite the obvious panic around him, he felt strangely distant from it.
A dull ringing in his ears was drowning out their harried voices. It was getting harder to breath, his lungs seeming to slow down of their own accord. An annoyingly bright light was waved in front of his eyes, a young doctor trying to talk to him. Poor man must have been new, he couldn't fully hide the panic in his eyes at the thought of losing someone.
Nate stared at him for a minute, confused. Now, why was he here again? He couldn't seem to remember. Where was Eliot? The mastermind turned his head to politely ask a nurse to get him, or at least he tried to. Nothing in his body seemed to respond to him, in fact it felt like he was trying to relax.
His shirt got ripped open and he would have grimaced if he'd been able to. He liked this shirt! The doctor pressed down on his chest roughly, trying to feel maybe? Nate wasn't sure. Hey, the lights were getting dimmer. Maybe someone else had noticed how annoying they were.
His body jerked for some reason, but he couldn't feel it. Maybe this wasn't his body? Maybe this was a dream? Yeah...a dream. Nate liked that idea for some reason, letting his suddenly heavy eyes close. He let himself drift off. That ringing was going away too, that was great. This was all a dream and when he woke up, Eliot would be there to chide him into eating something again.
Just a dream....
In the real world, machines let out a shrill monotone noise. Nurses and doctors looked at each other, disbelief clear on their faces. A doctor held a pair of electric paddles in his hands, nervously shouting, “Clear!”
Once that command was given, he shocked the patient again, but got no response. He got ready to do it a third time, but an older doctor stopped him. They exchanged quiet words, the younger clearly wanting to give it another try. Finally though he gave in, releasing the paddles to a nurse.
The older doctor called the time, remorse heavy in his voice. Not all patients could be saved, and this one hadn't seemed to have had a chance.
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Continue to Chapter 5
Eliot rolled his eyes from where he had sat on the larger of the two couches, arms crossed over his chest with feet propped and crossed at the ankles on the table near the laptop. Like everyone else he hadn’t exactly been told what this little get together was about.
The hitter huffed out, “You gotta point or are ya gonna to spend all our time here proving what a geek you are?”
Hardison looked like he honestly wanted to stick his tongue out at the group muscle but instead pointed his clicker towards the screens and made a display come up.
“Geek power baby. It got me where I needed to be. You see I kinda figured some of this info might be useful to know given all too current events. I don’t think our not so friendly buds are ready to give up on their playmates quite yet.”
Sophie sent the hacker a warning look for his bad phrasing but didn’t say a word on the subject from where she was accommodated on the smaller couch. Neither Nate nor Parker was present at the little impromptu get together but that didn’t mean they were totally out of hearing range.
Hardison pushed his palms together and bowed his head in a mock apology before continuing his would be lecture, “Obviously when doing experiments you’re trying to achieve something. Same can be said for these guys. From the looks of things they’ve been looking for their, uhm, unwilling participants anywhere they can get them. The records basically say they spotted Parker and assumed she was alone. When they tried to get at our girl Nate interfered so was taken along for the ride.”
Eliot’s eyebrows drew together, “Wait a minute. So you’re sayin’ it was just bad luck they got taken? Wrong place, wrong time?”
“Pretty much,” Hardison shrugged at the doubtful tones. “Seems like there aren’t a lot of people signing up to be willing lab rats; go figure. The bad guys saw what they thought was an easy target and went for it. People go missing all the time and no one questions it. Since no one supposedly would notice their absence, the Evil Science League wouldn’t feel the need to make it look like they were dead. So basically…”
The sound of rough coughing interrupted the words that would have followed. Three pairs of eyes turned automatically towards the commotion.
Nate was standing the bottom of the staircase, one hand over his mouth and the other braced on the railing for support. He cast listless eyes towards the group watching him and unsteadily pulled his hand back to look more stable than he felt. He didn’t like feeling this weak while under their scrutiny. His eyes flicked towards the multiple screens and he frowned at what he saw.
“What’s…” Nate stopped long enough to clear his throat when his voice came out a little more cracked than he liked, “What’s going on in here?”
Hardison took the moment to look guilty, a quick click turning the screens blank.
“Nothing you need to worry about Nate, just a little recon.” Eliot spoke up. He had shifted so his elbow rested on the back of the couch and he could see his lover.
Nate honestly didn’t look like he even needed to be standing, let alone traveling down a staircase. He also didn’t look particularly convinced with the quick explanation, “Recon on what?”
“Just looking into some potential jobs,” Sophie chimed in with a smooth voice.
The mastermind’s suspicion hadn’t been eased away, “I didn’t know we were looking into taking clients.”
“Nate,” Sophie answered in a soft, breathy voice meant to comfort, “It was just to pass time, really. “
He moved carefully forward, stopping only when he was close enough to lean against the back of the couch braced on crossed arms. Nate gave the present members of his team a quick glance to gauge their faces and slowly shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not buying it.”
Sophie frowned, a look of concern marring her pretty features, “Nate, you should be in bed. We can take care of this.”
“I don’t even know what this is,” He pointed out, choosing to overlook the bed comment. There was no need in starting a pointless argument.
“All the more reason to let us handle it,” Sophie started gently, though her tone was becoming firmer at the end.
Eliot and Hardison shared a look. They knew Sophie was fighting a loosing battle.
Having taken the brunt of the physical injury, Parker was slow to recover. It didn’t help that she refused to accept that jumping off buildings wasn’t considered a relaxing activity. Nate was the real problem. He looked the worse for wear, his skin ashen and his stomach constantly being disagreeable. Parker was practically glowing in comparison.
Where Parker had been getting better, he seemed to be getting weaker with every passing day. His breathing was too shallow. The natural temperature of his body had plummeted, falling once or twice to dangerous levels. A majority of his day was spent sleeping.
It didn’t help that Nate refused to acknowledge a ban to bed when he had the energy to get up. He had been getting stir-crazy up there when he actually managed to stay awake. Incidentally that stubbornness on such matters is most likely how Nate ended up downstairs to begin with. Obviously he was in one of his obstinate moods.
Having made that trip they highly doubted there would be any amount of coaxing that could get him back to his bedroom.
As predicted Nate just shook his head again. He was sick, not an idiot. They were trying to cover something which meant it was either incredibly dangerous or involved something he would be uncomfortable for them to get mixed up with.
With that in mind Nate continued on their small argument, “Sophie, you do remember that I know your con voice right? I know when you’re lying to me.”
The woman in question looked indignant but couldn’t deny it. Instead she turned sharp eyes onto Eliot and Hardison respectively for them to say something.
“Save it,” Nate decided for them. “If it’s too boring you can be pleased in the fact I’ll probably nod off.”
Not waiting for the conformation on what they were up to he moved in front of the couch where he plopped down with less grace than he liked. Slumping back with his eyes closed he took a moment to catch his breath before shifting forward, elbows resting on splayed knees. The movement caused his leg to brush against the man’s beside him.
It earned a critical once over from the hitter. Despite not looking pleased, however, Eliot didn’t bother to argue with Nate at this point. He would have figured it out sooner or later otherwise so that might as well let him know what was going on. It’d save a lot of time and subterfuge in the long run.
Hardison’s lips formed a tight line at Nate settled on the couch. He wasn’t exactly comfortable going over the information with their boss here. He hadn’t intended for him to be present. At least Parker wasn’t.
….Speak of the devil…
Parker slipped into the room seemingly out of nowhere, wide eyed but anxious as she settled on the arm of Sophie’s couch.
“If Nate gets to stay then I do too,” She insisted, shrugging small shoulders at the looks she received, “I’ve been listening anyways. I know more than he does.”
Hardison hesitated and looked at Parker and Nate, “You sure wanna be here for this? I mean some of this stuff… We were going over you guys' kidnapping adventure.”
Nate took a deep breath. He had been afraid it was something like that and he definitely didn’t want his team going into that particular situation aimed for any kind of revenge. Determined he met Hardison’s eyes, “I need to know exactly what’s going on.”
“I’m just sayin, some of this stuff isn’t pretty,“ Hardison insisted, swallowing heavily. He knew what was in the files having been the one to look them up and some of it was, was well downright graphic. He didn’t figure they needed anymore reminders of their short stint as guinea pigs. He cast pleading looks towards the other team members.
Eliot had to agree with Hardison at least on that much. “Nate maybe you and Parker ought to…”
“I’m not a child and I’m not a damn mental invalid. I can handle this.” Nate snapped. He scrubbed his hands over his face in the awkward silence that stretched over the room as a result.
“Just…” Nate said through a puff of air as he shoved hair away from his eyes and licked at his chapped lips, “I’m sorry. I just need to see this, need to know what all this is.” He emphasized his point by making a sweeping gesture with his hands at this, “I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I have to know what I’m working with. If you want to get involved in this I insist on remaining informed.”
This way at least he would have some control over what his team was doing and could hopefully stop things before they went too far. He appreciated what they were trying to do but didn’t want them ending up tied into this mess.
“Might as well go on, not like they wouldn’t catch on eventually anyways,” Eliot told the hacker though from the look in his eyes they shared the same opinion.
Hardison looked to Sophie, waiting for her to object but she just shrugged in surrender. He slowly looked at Parker who was staring steadily at Nate, “Like I said if Nate’s staying then so am I.”
“Yeah, I was afraid of that.” Hardison said in a defeated tone. This was so not what he had in mind when gathering this information.
“Right, okay then,” he gave in. He turned back to the screen and got situated in chair again before bringing the images from before back up.
“Isn’t that the layout of the base we got Parker and Nate out of?” Sophie asked softly, recognizing the floor plan.
“Exactly except I learned a whole lot more about what was going. A little bang, a little boom and bipty bopity boo while I was in.” Hardison explained, his voice closer to normal as he went into work mode.
“But we’re out so why do we want back in?” Parker asked with brows drawn low over her eyes.
“We’re not. I just wanted an easy way to ease into this mess and explain the layout. Before we were just focused on the holding areas. See this room here?” He asked pointing it out with an orange laser pointer, “This is where they did the main experimental procedures. Some really messed up stuff has gone on in there.“
“We already knew they were experimenting though.” Parker and Nate were more then enough proof of that. “What exactly were they trying to do?” Sophie asked.
Hardison chewed on his bottom lip for a second, resolutely focused on the screen. He really didn’t like them being here for this, “Oh you know, a little of this and that. Don’t you guys ever watch horror movies? Not thrillers, totally different genre despite common misconception. I mean the classic Lon Chaney stuff where…
“Quit skipping around the subject. What were those bastards trying to do?” It was Eliot who snapped this time.
Another stretch of silence followed while Hardison rubbed at the back of his neck before finally answering, “Create super soldiers. They were looking to produce a serum that would basically make someone unstoppable. Sorta like the Terminator without all the metal. We’re talking needing less sleep, not needing as much substance like food and stuff to survive, enhanced seeing, hearing, you name it. It’s like a bad Sci-Fi flick come to life.”
“But what did that have to do with me and Nate? I’m not a fighter and he’s too old to be one of those movie guys.” Parker asked, not even considering the insult contained in the words. “I mean Eliot looks much more like the type. He’s got the hair, the muscles, a great butt, the…” She trailed off when she realized everyone was staring at her, “What?”
Hardison shook his head. He thought he heard Eliot snort and mutter something about her not being right.
“Nah, doesn’t work like that. It’s all chemical and how a subject’s body is likely to react. The rest can come later.” Hardison continued in his explanation. He clicked again bringing up different pictures on each of the screens. They showed test subjects from a variety of ages, ethnic groups, gender and build. He focused on the report instead of seeing how the images affected his friends. There were reasons he hadn’t wanted them to join the pow-wow and they were coming up.
“The chemicals they used are a hard combination to make so they were choosy on their test subjects. Most of them were, uhm, most were put through a variety of tests to see how they stood up to the more common side affects before they brought out the big guns.”
He pushed the clicker again bringing up images of a more advanced group of patients. They were connected to a jungle of test wires, attached to various machines and some even being forced into awkward positions. Hardison clicked again trying to clear the screens of the pictures and ended up bringing up a video clip instead by accident in his rush. He heard a sharp intake of breath behind him.
The display showed an unconscious Parker strapped down to a metal table. She had been stripped down. Almost every inch of her body had some kind of medical equipment attached to it, readings from the multitude of blinking machines monitoring every breath and muscle twitch.
From where she was balanced on the arm of the couch Parker whimpered and made an attempt to curl in on herself, slipping off the couch arm and sliding next to Sophie. The older woman pulled the small blond closer, arms protectively around her thin frame.
Nate stiffened and stared at the display through wide, guilt filled eyes even as Hardison finally managed to get the screens to blank out. At hearing her whimper so close to him Nate visibly flinched, eyes screwing tightly shut.
Eliot looked from where Sophie had Parker handled to Nate. He had known this was a bad idea. Without a moment to consider his actions he slipped his arm over the cushion behind Nate, using his other hand to gently force the man to ease back.
“Okay, no more visual aides,” Hardison decided out loud. “Trust me when I say it only gets worse from there.”
He looked over his teammates, waiting for things to settle again. This had ‘WRONG’ written all over it but there was nothing to be done about it at this point. Instead he chugged some orange soda while things got back under control. It was still his job to fill in information. They needed to know what he had found out.
Taking a shaky breath Nate focused on the youngest male in their group, taking the silently offered comfort from Eliot.
“Why Parker? From what I saw… from what happened in that room the shot had been meant for her. Why use her?” Nate tried to clarify.
“That’s where things get interesting, or more disturbing, depending on how you see it. Compliments of her age, flexibility, current health and mental state, creepy dudes decided that girly here was a perfect candidate for the serum,” Hardison passed his eyed over towards Parker, giving her a wink in hopes of making her feel better.
“She passed all their chemical tests with flying colors. Theoretically she should have been ideal. That’s not saying much though. The others they tested that stuff on…” He shook his head again, “Let’s just say the results weren’t always pretty. So far they’ve failed to create their unstoppable soldier.”
“Of course there’s more,” Hardison added after a beat, voice tight with nerves, “Most subjects who were exposed to the serum responded negatively within a few hours. Like horrible, immediate deaths or by lashing out violently. Some of the others just lost it, went into a frenzy and attacked whoever they were with. None of the results were exactly pretty. That’s why Nate was left in the room with Parker after the heroics. While they were adjusting their equipment they wanted to see how he responded to something living around him.”
Nate’s face was almost gray when he heard the news, “You mean I could be a threat to all of you?”
“Well that’s the thing. Your results aren’t exactly normal. In fact they aren’t precedent in the other results.“ Hardison looked over Nate, clearly hesitant to say any more.
“Just say it Alec,” Nate’s voice was resigned this time.
“There’s nothing to say. Your reaction is unique, like I said. Nothing here really lends to a pattern. Your body isn’t reacting in the norm. You’ve outlived most of the subjects but are too weak to be harmful. No one knows what to expect, even those freaky science dudes,” Hardison looked thoughtful for a moment, “Man, if it’s any consolation, it must be killing them not to have any intake on…” He looked around and noticed a series of glares he was receiving. He chuckled tensely and held his hands up in surrender, “My bad. I was just trying to lighten the atmosphere.”
Nate swallowed the bile that tried to chase its way up his throat with the news. He pushed himself up with the determination to put some distance between himself and the rest of the group. He could have hurt them, still could…
It was too much to handle right now. When he made it to his feet he was forced to grasp at air for balance, his equilibrium shot from standing too quickly. The world was spinning again, his body refusing to move like he ordered it to. Instead he was swaying and fighting for stability.
Eliot bolted up from the couch and caught Nate with hands under his arms just as the older man stumbled forward.
“Spots, why the hell is there spots,” Nate demanded weakly as he crumbled against the cushioning Eliot was providing.
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Eliot came back downstairs huffily shoving his hair out of his face as he dug into his pocket for a hair band. He found his teammates still waiting anxiously on the couch for news.
Managing to get his hair back and out of his way he claimed his seat from before. The hitter settled into it with a barely suppressed groan.
“Alright, Nate’s settled in bed with Parker keeping watch. He’s sleeping it off,” He informed them, his voice echoing too hard in his own ears against the stony silence that had stolen over the room.
He buried his face in his hands and took a few calming breaths. This was so not good in so many ways.
After a pause it was Sophie who finally spoke up, “But he’s going to be okay? I mean surely it was just the shock that got to him.” She had intended it to be a comment but her words came out instead like a hopeful question.
“Man, of course he’s going to be okay. He’s Nathan Ford. Nothing stops that man. He’s like a bull dog when it gets its teeth on something, ain’t nothing turning him loose until he’s ready,” Hardison said though his words lacked the enthusiasm needed to make them believable.
They all saw the situation for what it was but none of them wanted to admit it.
Eliot took a few more breathes before pulling his hands away from his face. Somebody had to say it.
“What he needs is help,” He forced his voice to keep an even tone.
“We’re doing everything we can,” came a soft reply from the woman on the other couch.
“I know that Sophie, and it’s not enough. He’s been getting worse everyday and all but passed out down here. The moment I got him to that bed he was lost to the world. He’s worse off then I’ve ever seen him. We’ve started having trouble actually waking him up, you guys know that much. He can’t keep anything in his stomach most of the time and…” Eliot shook his head and stubbornly squeezed his eyes shut, fighting off the emotions desperately clawing to reach to surface.
Finally, he could continue, “He needs a doctor. We, we gotta take him to the hospital. There’s no other way around it.”
“And say what? A mad scientist kidnapped our boss and injected him with super juice? We don’t even know what that stuff is!” Hardison argued. He had been pacing while he listened to the hitter’s words and didn’t like what he was hearing. He added a little more quietly, “Besides, you know he hates hospitals.”
“We know that he’s dying,” Eliot growled back meeting his eyes with a hard look.
Sophie gasped at the theory, hand flying to cover her mouth as her eyes went misty.
“He’s not…” Hardison tried to disagree, sinking into one of the chairs in denial.
“I’m not a doctor but I do know a little more then basic physical aide. There’s too much going wrong and we can’t control it. He’s acting like someone whose been exposed to a poison dose in the worst way. You’ve seen him Hardison. He’s not getting better,” Eliot’s words were hard, clipped. His eyes were a little too bright for him to doubt a word coming out of his mouth.
Hardison stuttered, searching frantically for anything that would contradict what the hitter said.
Sophie blinked back the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes before she spoke. Someone needed to take charge. With a lot of effort she managed a resolute voice, “So we get a doctor then. An overnight emergency clinic. We won’t be questioned as much there.”
Eliot gave her a grateful look for taking over. He had been struggling over a thin line as it was and he wasn’t sure he could try to comfort them and keep his own honest reactions at bay for long. At some point the emotional detachment he had prided himself on had flown out the window and now he was left fighting to hold all the pieces together.
“Looks like Tom Baker flunked rehab just to collapse out of the blue. It’ll at least give them something to look into. I’ll have us a full cover story by time we get there.” Sophie continued in a cool voice that contradicted the bleary look in her eyes.
At least by using Nate’s rehab cover from before the doctor could account for what damage the former alcohol abuse might have caused. It also served to give him an identity so none of this would go into Nate’s medical records.
She turned her eyes to Eliot, fiddling with the edges of her hair to control nervous hands. “You’re going to have to take up the Mark identity again. Play little brother so we’ll have a link for emergency information.” Getting his nod of conformation she looked to Hardison. “Make sure Eliot’s ID is going to hold up, double check Nate’s. No one should be probing that deep but we don’t need anything to go wrong and were sure to have our fair share of enemies lurking out there.”
Eliot stood to his feet with chewed nails biting into his palms. “Right. We gonna give him a while to catch up on his rest or are we going to go ahead and make the call for help?”
Sophie tugged at the dark strands tangled in her fingers thoughtfully. “The sooner the better,” she decided.
“You make the call, I’ll take care of him,” Eliot nodded as he made his way up the stairs.
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It started in the ambulance. Everything seemed all right at first, the paramedics questioning Eliot about his ‘brother’s’ collapse. That's when 'Tom' jerked on the gurney, one hand scrambling to clutch at the brunette's. His vital stats went haywire, with the medical professional snapping out a curse.
As he worked to save Tom's life, the driver seemed to go faster, although to Eliot it seemed time slowed down. As soon as they arrived, Tom was rushed to the ER, vitals still dropping. Eliot was shoved aside, told that he couldn't go any further, that they'd inform him as to what went on as soon as they could.
The last thing Eliot saw before those doors closed was Nate somehow managing to make direct eye contact with him. The fear in his eyes tore at the hitter in a way he didn't know was still possible. Eliot's body froze, even as his mind screamed at him to rush forward, to stay at the other's side. He murmured to himself, “Oh god Nate....”
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In the ER itself, doctors and nurses were rushing to save the patient. Nate had been shoved back down from his attempt to sit up, an air mask over his face. Despite the obvious panic around him, he felt strangely distant from it.
A dull ringing in his ears was drowning out their harried voices. It was getting harder to breath, his lungs seeming to slow down of their own accord. An annoyingly bright light was waved in front of his eyes, a young doctor trying to talk to him. Poor man must have been new, he couldn't fully hide the panic in his eyes at the thought of losing someone.
Nate stared at him for a minute, confused. Now, why was he here again? He couldn't seem to remember. Where was Eliot? The mastermind turned his head to politely ask a nurse to get him, or at least he tried to. Nothing in his body seemed to respond to him, in fact it felt like he was trying to relax.
His shirt got ripped open and he would have grimaced if he'd been able to. He liked this shirt! The doctor pressed down on his chest roughly, trying to feel maybe? Nate wasn't sure. Hey, the lights were getting dimmer. Maybe someone else had noticed how annoying they were.
His body jerked for some reason, but he couldn't feel it. Maybe this wasn't his body? Maybe this was a dream? Yeah...a dream. Nate liked that idea for some reason, letting his suddenly heavy eyes close. He let himself drift off. That ringing was going away too, that was great. This was all a dream and when he woke up, Eliot would be there to chide him into eating something again.
Just a dream....
In the real world, machines let out a shrill monotone noise. Nurses and doctors looked at each other, disbelief clear on their faces. A doctor held a pair of electric paddles in his hands, nervously shouting, “Clear!”
Once that command was given, he shocked the patient again, but got no response. He got ready to do it a third time, but an older doctor stopped him. They exchanged quiet words, the younger clearly wanting to give it another try. Finally though he gave in, releasing the paddles to a nurse.
The older doctor called the time, remorse heavy in his voice. Not all patients could be saved, and this one hadn't seemed to have had a chance.
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Continue to Chapter 5