The Relocation Job Ch 1-6
Title: The Relocation Job
Author: SageK
Rating: pg-13
Genre: Teamfic (Gen thus far with a focus on Eliot)
Word Count:3,570
Summary: What happens after the finale?
Despite the sounds of small aircraft on the tarmac outside, the large hanger was fairly quiet, small sounds catching the gentle breeze and traveling well. As they turned to scatter once again, Eliot listened to the now familiar sounds of his colleagues footsteps and the muffled thud of his own sturdy, rubber soled boots, which stopped, seemingly of their own volition. To his left, there was a soft sigh. Parker, silent as ever in her black Converse low tops, no longer moving away. Beyond her, the low squeaks of Hardison’s sneakers dropped away. Louder than the others, Sophie’s heels beat a staccato on the concrete to Eliot’s right, but they too fell to silence mere moments before the low rasp of Nathan’s Oxfords halted.
As they stood there, silent and still, Eliot closed his eyes and dropped his head. I was just getting used to it…Being part of a team. He’d said those very words to Sophie when the grifter had made her non-apology apology. He’d been on his own for so long he’d never even contemplated what it would be like to have so me sort of quasi-stable, reliable group of colleagues and friends in his life. Sure they were an odd bunch that included a con artist, an alcoholic, a geek and a mildly crazy woman, but he fit with them in a way he never could have predicted.
Ruefully he acknowledged that Aimee had been right when she had observed that he had found a family.
Heaving a sigh of his own Eliot turned on his heel and crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t going to be the one to walk away. Not this time.
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Parker, still closest, was the first to notice Eliot had turned around. The lithe blond turned her head in his direction, wide eyes regarding him with a glimmer of…something. Still guarded and wary, but with just a hint of hope.
The look made Eliot’s stomach clench so he quirked a tiny smile at her, a bit of reassurance even as he felt adrift himself. He was reminded uncomfortably of how his little sister used to look at him when their father would go on a tear after mama had died. She had always believed he could make it better.
But this wasn’t something he could make better with a “fun” camping trip in the woods for the night. This would take a whole different type of effort.
“Damn,” he growled under his breath. He saw Hardison’s shoulders tense and the younger man looked over his shoulder quickly. Drawn to Nate’s orbit as always, Sophie turned toward the ex-insurance investigator to gauge his reaction. Parker’s guarded expression cracked and the blond beamed at Eliot.
Okay, so Nate wasn’t gonna say anything. Time to cowboy up.
“Way I see it, we got a good thing here,” he said clearly, hoping an actual sentence would encourage the others to contribute.
By the time the words were out of his mouth, Nate Sophie and Hardison had turned fully. Parker bounced on her toes and said, “Yup.”
Nate crossed his arms mirroring Eliot and looked at each of them in turn. “We can’t stay here,” he said. “Sterling won’t give up so easily.”
“Who says we have to stay in LA?” Hardison asked with a shrug. “Not like any of us never moved before.”
Sophie stepped toward Nate. “And if you think about it, Sterling will be expecting us to split up. Because that’s what any of us would have done in the past. Gone solo,” the grifter touched Nate’s arm and raised her brows hopefully.
Eliot nodded. “So let’s pick another city.”
“Maybe somewhere with snow,” Parker said with a grin. “I like snow.”
Looking around the little circle, previously so grave and somber, Nate took in Sophie’s gentle smile, Hardison’s wider grin and Parker’s positively gleeful expression. Eliot, who had been the one to call a halt to everyone’s departures, wore a pleased look, but cocked an eyebrow at Nate. “What d’ya say, boss. You in.”
With a quick nod, Nathan said, “Let’s find a new city.”
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One Week Later: Congress Street, Portland, Maine
“A walk up?” Sophie asked unhappily, cultured accent echoing off the stairwell walls.
Ahead of her, Nathan shot Hardison a look, causing the computer genius to hastily say, “There’s an elevator. It’s just not working.”
Already on the fourth (and top) floor landing, Parker leaned over the railing to look down at them. “It’s only four flights,” the blond said. “I kinda like the stairs.”
“You like the vertical drop down the middle,” Eliot commented, joining her in observing the others. “So how long’s the elevator been broke down?”
Hardison scowled up at him. “About a year,” he muttered, then began quickened his own ascent up the stairs as he sensed Sophie’s increasing displeasure.
Obviously not too pleased himself, Nate took Sophie’s arm and said, “We’ll get the elevator fixed.”
“Stairs are good cardio,” Eliot said with a hint of a laugh in his voice.
The office space Hardison had found took up half of the top floor of a four story building on Congress Street in Portland’s Old Port District. The building itself was older, with storefronts lining the first level, then red brick extending up to the roof. The door to their office suite was a heavy, stained Oak with a tarnished brass knob.
“I’ll see about updating this lock,” Hardison said, mumbling under his breath about key cards and scanners and wiring, as he opened the door to the empty reception area. The walls were a matte off white shade while the floors and wood work were weathered white pine. It had a very different feel than their old office, much less modern and streamlined.
They all took a few minutes to look around, peering into doorways and offices, taking note of the conference room, storage room, little kitchenette and bathroom. Eventually, they made their way back to the reception area, Sophie already discussing getting painters in to deal with the walls.
“I’m thinking maybe a sand tone as the main wall color and maybe some forest green accents, in keeping with the charm of the building,” she told Parker, who looked back at her with a puzzled expression.
“The important question,” Hardison said with a grin, drawing everyone’s attention, “is what wall to hang the picture of Old Man Leverage on?”
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When given the choice between following Sophie on her hunt for a decent furniture retailer or hitting the nearest Lowe’s or Home Depot for some much needed materials, Eliot really didn’t even have to think about his decision. What he hadn’t counted on was having Hardison and Parker along for the trip.
Apparently, Hardison had already arranged for all of his massive, complex computer and technical equipment to be delivered as soon as the office suites were ready. And while the younger man probably had some preferences when it came to his desk and chair, the prospect of shopping with Sophie, who would qualify for the Olympic shopping team if there was such a thing, was far too daunting. Parker simply had no interest in interior design or office repair, but she chose to accompany Eliot and Hardison, leaving Nate to fend for himself with Sophie.
Grabbing a large dolly, Eliot considered what they needed for the office. The wood floors were in good shape, as was most of the woodwork and the walls just needed a coat of paint. The small wash room and the kitchenette were a mess though. They’d need new sinks, a toilet, new tile for the bathroom floor and a countertop for the kitchenette. Add to that all the necessary grout, adhesives and tools as well as hardware, paint and light fixtures…
With a shake of his head, Eliot began herding the other two toward the paint counter, figuring they could look for the rest of the supplies while the paint tech mixed their colors. Before they had left, Sophie had picked a color scheme off of the Behr paint website for the reception area and conference room and another for the offices.
As they approached the large paint section, Parker announced, “I don’t want a strange pinkish office.”
Hardison and Eliot looked at her and the hacker checked his electronic note pad for the list Sophie had given them. “Says here Sophie wants Lunar Lights for the walls of our offices,” he read, then shrugged. “Not real sure what color Lunar Light is.”
“I’d think kinda white,” Eliot replied, but Parker shook her head.
“I saw the samples Sophie was looking at. It was pink.”
This caused both men to pause as neither of them was too keen on the idea of a pink work place.
“Let’s check this out,” Hardison said, leading the charge to the huge sample wall.
Ten minutes later they had Sophie’s paint schemes laid out before them. The colors for the conference room and reception were fine, a tan called Outback for the walls, off white Cotton Whisper for the ceiling and a nice green Pine Scent for any small accents. The choices for the offices however were not so palatable. Lunar Light was in fact a pinkish color and the ceiling paint Powdered snow also had a tinge of the color. The accent choice of Spring Hill, a colonial blue, wasn’t so bad, and in truth the colors looked nice together. They just weren’t colors Parker, Eliot and Hardison wanted on their walls or ceilings.
“All right, pick what y’all like,” Eliot said with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before walking over to a selection of green samples.
Hardison had drifted over to the modern looking gray and slate paints, but he paused. “Should we get different paint for Nate’s office?”
“No,” Parker said as she perused the blues. “He saw what Sophie picked and didn’t seem to have a problem with it.”
Eliot snorted. “More like he didn’t want to make Sophie mad at him.”
“Then he’s just gonna have to deal with a pink office,” Hardison said rifling through the paint samples.
“I like these,” Parke said, and Eliot looked over to the now ransacked blue paint area. The blond shoved her samples into his hand before taking off down the aisle. For a moment he was torn between worrying about the carnage she could cause loose in the home improvement store and wanting to finish up with the paint. Then he looked at the samples in his hand and had to smile. Parker, their fearless daredevil, wanted Elfin Magic blue walls, Sweet Smile blue ceiling and Fuzzy Elephant pink accents.
Selecting a muted green Herbal Scent paint for his walls, English Country gray/green for the ceiling and off-white with a hint of gray/green Sorbet for accents, Eliot walked over to where Hardison was still contemplating shades of gray. “Come on,” he said, prodding the younger man while he craned his neck, looking down the aisle to where Parker was looking at paint rollers.
“Fine,” Hardison huffed, handing over three shades of gray samples. Dark Smoke Signal for the walls, medium Dusk for the ceiling and pale First day for accents.
Armed with each of their color choices, as well as Sophie’s list, Eliot approached the paint desk. A young man with close cropped blond hair and a name tag that read BILL smiled pleasantly and asked, “What can I help you with today sir?”
“Paint,” Eliot replied, handing over all the samples and rattling off the number of gallons of each they would need.
To Bill’s credit, the amount of paint and the variety of colors didn’t phase him, he just took notes of the amount on each sample and said, “This’ll take about an hour to mix.”
“I got other stuff to get,” Eliot replied, then cringed when he heard Hardison’s voice echo off the metal shelves and concrete floor.
“Get down!” the younger man was saying urgently.
Eliot smiled tightly at the paint guy, then hurriedly dragged the dolly down the aisle to where Hardison was standing, looking up at Parker, who was climbing up the heavy industrial shelving.
“Parker!” Eliot hissed. “Down. Now!”
Standing with one foot on a shelf and a hand gripping a vertical bar, Parker leaned around to toss a fancy roller down to him. Thankfully, she then descended from her perch and hopped lightly to the floor. “What?” she asked as Eliot pulled her down the aisle, stopping only to toss brushes, rollers, paint pans and drop cloths onto the dolly.
“You do things like that, you’re gonna get us tossed outta here,” Eliot grumbled, turning the corner and entering the flooring department.
“Never been tossed from a Lowe’s before,” Hardison laughed, then cocked his head to the side. “Like that rug, Parker?”
The blond was rapidly rubbing her hands on a carpet swatch. Then she stopped, spun and touched Hardison’s ear with one finger, causing the man to yelp and jump away.
Parker grinned and wiggled her fingers. “I have superpowers,” she exclaimed, advancing on Hardison who retreated.
Watching them, Eliot sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Hi! Can I help you with anything?”
Eliot lowered his hand and pulled out a smile for the young woman who had approached him. She was a cute, young brunette with a ponytail and a nametag that read MARY. “I’m lookin’ to retile the bathroom at my office,” he told her, attempting to keep half an eye on his two colleagues who were still running around like kids.
“Our heavy duty tiles are over here. Any color preference?” The girl led him to an isle filled with tile of all colors.
Eliot glanced up and down the aisle, then settled on a nearby display. “This looks good,” he said, grabbing a box. “I’ll need enough for a 6x10 room.”
Hefting another box onto the dolly, Mary asked, “Do you need all the usual supplies or….”
From an aisle or two over there was a thump and a groan followed by Parker’s exclamation of, “Sorry!”
Sighing again, Eliot said, “Sorry for whatever they’re doing.”
“S’okay,” she said, “But maybe you want to do the rest of your shopping and I’ll gather the rest of the tile supplies and have them waiting for you up front.”
Eliot smiled at her. “That would be great.” He then gave her his name and picked a grout color before heading off to round up his wayward.
Hardison was sitting on a box of wood flooring, holding a hand to his head, scowling. Parker stood beside him, bouncing on her toes and trying to look innocent but not really succeeding. It was almost enough to make Eliot wish he’d gone shopping with Sophie instead. Almost.
“Come on,” he said, pushing the dolly off toward the bathroom fixtures. “Lots more to do.”
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When the younger members of the team returned to the office from their trip to Lowe’s, Eliot had just glare at Nathan, then disappeared into the run down bathroom. Moments later, the sounds of old tile being smashed and tossed into buckets could be heard throughout the suite. Nathan thought about poking his head in to see what the problem was, but then he looked at the other two. Hardison had streaks of paint in his hair and a dazed expression while Parker was looking too innocent.
Maybe letting Eliot work off his aggravation on the old tile was a good idea after all.
Sophie took charge of directing the dispersal of the supplies bought to fix the place up. While out on the prowl for furniture stores, she had decided that she needed to see the final appearance of the office before she got down to decorating. At least that was the reason she had given Nate when she got distracted by the little boutique clothing stores in the Old Port.
After a brief confusion over the number of paint colors, Sophie had stormed off toward the bathroom. Nate, Hardison and even Parker fell silent, unsure how this confrontation would pan out. They were sure Eliot wouldn’t actually hurt Sophie, but if he was in a bad enough mood he wouldn’t hesitate to exude menace.
The sound of smashing tile ceased for about thirty seconds, then resumed as Sophie came hurrying back out into the reception area.
“Eliot has suggested we give him a few days,” Sophie said somewhat breathlessly. “Maybe look for our own apartments.”
A particularly loud crash seemed to punctuate her sentence and Hardison said, “Sounds like a plan.”
“Agreed,” Nate added with a nod, not really wanting to be around Eliot when he was in this mood and armed with a hammer.
Parker peered through the door toward where Eliot was working. “Shouldn’t we help?”
“NO.”
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“Hey, man! For real, the place looks great. Not that I doubted you.”
“Yes he did.”
“Did not!”
“You said it would probably look like we left a Tazmanian Devil hopped up on crack loose in here.”
“Parker!”
Taking a sip of his tea, Eliot looked up from behind his desk at the pair squabbling in his doorway. Parker took this acknowledgement as an invitation and strolled into the office to perch on the edge of the desk. Hardison lingered by the door as Eliot asked, “Tazmanian Devil?”
The hacker shrugged, “Yeah, well, you weren’t exactly in the best of moods when we left.”
“You two almost got us tossed out of Lowe’s. More than once. And lord knows you were lucky no one caught y’all with that mulcher,” Eliot pointed out, then cocked his head to the side. “What exactly were you doing with it.”
“Testing it,” Parker said, then thumped a hand down on the desk. “How come you’re the only one with furniture?”
“I was wondering that myself,” Hardison asked, finally entering the room fully and dropping into one of the worn looking leather armchairs.
Eliot tipped back in his own chair, “Sophie’s gonna decorate the office and I don’t think our tastes run toward the same styles.”
Eyeing the solid, simplistic Mission style furniture and beat up, comfy leather chairs, Hardison had to agree. Parker pulled her feet up to sit Indian style on the desktop. “I like it. Sturdy. Good for weight bearing.”
Nodding, Eliot said, “And I didn’t just put stuff in here. There are some tall cabinets in the tore room. One of ‘em even has cleaning stuff, should either of ya feel so inclined.”
“You know, for the badass head cracker among us, you’re kinda OCD on cleaning, dude,” Hardison teased, causing Eliot to give him a one fingered salute.
Before anyone could toss out another snaky comment, Sophie appeared in the doorway, a reluctant Nate in tow behind her with a notepad. “Oh,” the grifter said looking around the room with a faint expression of distaste. “Eliot, you didn’t have to do your own décor as well as all the other work you put into the place. I’d be happy to…help.”
With a shake of his head, Eliot said, “Nah, I’m good.”
“But it’s so…” Sophie waved a hand, trying to come up with an inoffensive descriptor and the best she could manage was, “Spartan.”
As Nate ducked into the room to claim the other chair, Eliot shrugged, “I’m okay with that.”
“What you need is a plasma screen and some pictures of scantily clad NASCAR girls on the wall and you’ll have your own man cave,” Hardison laughed, knowing the very idea would make the tasteful British woman shudder.
“No, man caves are for basements or garages, not offices,” Eliot said to reassure Sophie who looked stricken by Hardison’s suggestion. “I wouldn’t say no to a TV though.”
Conceding to have lost the battle, but not surrendering what would probably be a long fought war, Sophie said, “Well, I suppose we’ll go on then. Parker’s office is next door yes? Then Hardison and Storage at the end of the hall.”
“Yeah,” Eliot said, catching Nate’s small smile. The older man had obviously noted that Eliot had chosen the office closest to the entrance, thus the potential for assault. This way he’d be the first line of physical defense, in front of Parker and Hardison, with Nate and Sophie buffered by the conference room and kitchenette.
Their moment of communion was broken as Sophie said, “Coming, Nate?”
Levering himself out of the comfortable chair, Nate tossed a hopeful look at the low chest of drawers. “Any chance…”
“No alcohol.”
“Nate?” Sophie called from the hall and the man sighed and shuffled out.
The three younger members of the team shared a look and Parker made a whipped motion with her hand and the accompanying sound.
“That is not wrong,” Hardison laughed and Eliot couldn’t help but agree.
TBC