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telarynTitle: Complicated Dance
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
telaryn
Word Count: 1166
Fandom: Leverage
Characters: Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Rating: R
Warnings: None really
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: Unspoken feelings complicate Nate and Eliot's attempts to keep Sophie safe during a job.
Author's Note: Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
angst_bingo's Round 3, for the prompt "undercover".
Eliot didn’t have the words for how bad an idea this was.
”It’s Sophie’s call. Nate had been adamant. Eliot had tried to argue, but Hardison had done something to the comms – giving Nate and Sophie a few moments of private conversation. When they rejoined the network, it was all settled. ”Eliot, get down to the hotel – I want you in position to extract Sophie if things go south.”
”Nate, I told you…”
Eliot was stunned to hear the strain in Nate’s voice when he cut Sophie off. ”And I told you this was your call. I did not agree to leave you without any support, however.” There was a moment of silence. ”Eliot won’t interfere unless I give the word, or you raise the alarm.” Ordinarily Eliot would have protested Nate speaking for him in a situation like this, but he’d also expected Nate to be so goal focused that he would have completely ignored the danger to his grifter.
“Give me a code word,” he said.
”Eliot…”
He inhaled sharply through his nose, forcing his temper back. “Sophie, don’t fuck with me on this. If I was calling the shots, you’d be on your way back to the loft. Give me a damn code word.” An image of Sophie in Randall Jensen’s embrace – the corrupt financier unzipping her designer dress – flashed into his mind. I’ll kill him. When this is all over, when we’ve got what we need out of him, he’s dead.
“Picard,” Sophie said at last. Eliot thought he could hear a soft snort on the network, but Hardison was mercifully aware enough not to say anything further.
”Parker, you rendezvous with Hardison. With Sophie keeping Jensen distracted, it’s a perfect chance to try for the safe in his downtown office.” Parker looked upset, like she was going to argue with Nate, but Eliot shook his head at her.
“Go,” he mouthed, letting her know by his expression that he was okay on his own. Her brow furrowed for a moment in what passed for a scowl, then she impulsively threw her arms around him. Eliot exhaled softly, allowing the hug as long as he dared before pulling back and gesturing at her to leave.
He didn’t want to do this. Watching Sophie with Nate was hard enough – now that they’d found a reasonably healthy place in their relationship, he was having to work even harder to keep his own feelings under wraps. Listening to her prostitute herself to a bastard like Jensen – for a fucking job - was going to kill him.
******************
”I need you to know it’s okay to walk away. No job is worth you doing this if you don’t want to.” Nate was determined not to tell Sophie what she had to do, but he knew he’d never be able to live with himself if there was even the slightest chance she thought he expected her to sleep with Jensen for the sake of the client.
Sophie and Eliot were moving into position. Nate glanced at Hardison. “Shift yours and Parker’s comms to a different frequency before you go,” he said, digging in his pocket and passing over his keys. “I’ll text you if we run into any technical difficulties.”
The hacker looked as though he wanted to say something, but Nate shook his head. “Go. Take care of Parker. Get me what I need.”
Once he was alone, Nate clasped his hands in front of him and tried to walk through all possible permutations of the evening’s events. He hated what was going to happen – hated it with every fiber of his being. He wanted to call an abort, pull everybody out, make it so that Sophie never had to even think about Randall Jensen.
”This isn’t exactly the first time I’ve gone to bed with a mark, Nate.” Sophie’s voice was soft in his ear, with a hint of reproach. “It’s not the end of the world – both of you are hopefully professional enough to see that.”
”I’ve got no dog in this fight,” Eliot said. Nate smiled in spite of himself. Eliot had spoken too quickly – his voice tight with barely restrained emotion. He still thinks we don’t know. He’d been the first to pick up on how strong Eliot’s feelings for Sophie really were. For a woman who made a fortune through her ability to read other people, Sophie had been remarkably blind when it came to understanding how their hitter really felt about her.
“I already told you how I feel,” he said, before either of the others could pick up on his distraction. “I trust you to be able to do your job.” He swallowed, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. “If I feel like you’re showboating, Sophie, trying to prove something you know I don’t believe needs proving, I will send Eliot in to extract you.”
“Nate…”
“No,” he said, feeling a sudden inexplicable kinship with his younger teammate. “This may be the best way to get what our client needs, but we’re not risking your safety any more than absolutely necessary. This isn’t open for discussion.”
**************
Sophie nestled into the leather-covered seat; Jensen had spared no expense to bring her to his apartment. He was a bastard – no doubt about that – but he wasn’t better at this dance than she was. Nobody was better at this dance than she was. She’d taken his measure, and was comfortable that any risks she was about to take were well worth the reward.
Convincing Nate and Eliot – that was another matter. She appreciated that Nate had done his best to give her space and not pressure her to decide one way or the other. Somebody with a tenth of her ability could tell just from the tone in his voice that he hadn’t wanted her to go anywhere near Jensen. And he’d kept Eliot from pressuring her – under the circumstances, that was nothing short of a miracle.
”It’s cruel.” Once she and Nate had established their boundaries, Sophie had argued for excluding Eliot from monitoring her time with Jensen. ”You know how he feels.” Nate had then quite calmly – and correctly – pointed out that if Eliot was going to be her failsafe, he needed to know what was happening in real time. She’d then had a brief, completely disloyal moment where she wondered if Nate was trying to take advantage of the situation to punish Eliot for his interest in her.
They were going to need to talk about things. Even without any of them saying a word, Sophie could feel the two men as close as if they were snugged in on either side of her. She liked the feeling. Nate and she had found their balance, but he would never be ready to give her everything she needed. The growing attraction between her and Eliot seemed to suggest that he would fill the empty places in her life perfectly.
Except neither of them is the type to share.
Author:
telarynWord Count: 1166
Fandom: Leverage
Characters: Nate/Eliot/Sophie
Rating: R
Warnings: None really
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: Unspoken feelings complicate Nate and Eliot's attempts to keep Sophie safe during a job.
Author's Note: Written for
angst_bingo's Round 3, for the prompt "undercover".Eliot didn’t have the words for how bad an idea this was.
”It’s Sophie’s call. Nate had been adamant. Eliot had tried to argue, but Hardison had done something to the comms – giving Nate and Sophie a few moments of private conversation. When they rejoined the network, it was all settled. ”Eliot, get down to the hotel – I want you in position to extract Sophie if things go south.”
”Nate, I told you…”
Eliot was stunned to hear the strain in Nate’s voice when he cut Sophie off. ”And I told you this was your call. I did not agree to leave you without any support, however.” There was a moment of silence. ”Eliot won’t interfere unless I give the word, or you raise the alarm.” Ordinarily Eliot would have protested Nate speaking for him in a situation like this, but he’d also expected Nate to be so goal focused that he would have completely ignored the danger to his grifter.
“Give me a code word,” he said.
”Eliot…”
He inhaled sharply through his nose, forcing his temper back. “Sophie, don’t fuck with me on this. If I was calling the shots, you’d be on your way back to the loft. Give me a damn code word.” An image of Sophie in Randall Jensen’s embrace – the corrupt financier unzipping her designer dress – flashed into his mind. I’ll kill him. When this is all over, when we’ve got what we need out of him, he’s dead.
“Picard,” Sophie said at last. Eliot thought he could hear a soft snort on the network, but Hardison was mercifully aware enough not to say anything further.
”Parker, you rendezvous with Hardison. With Sophie keeping Jensen distracted, it’s a perfect chance to try for the safe in his downtown office.” Parker looked upset, like she was going to argue with Nate, but Eliot shook his head at her.
“Go,” he mouthed, letting her know by his expression that he was okay on his own. Her brow furrowed for a moment in what passed for a scowl, then she impulsively threw her arms around him. Eliot exhaled softly, allowing the hug as long as he dared before pulling back and gesturing at her to leave.
He didn’t want to do this. Watching Sophie with Nate was hard enough – now that they’d found a reasonably healthy place in their relationship, he was having to work even harder to keep his own feelings under wraps. Listening to her prostitute herself to a bastard like Jensen – for a fucking job - was going to kill him.
******************
”I need you to know it’s okay to walk away. No job is worth you doing this if you don’t want to.” Nate was determined not to tell Sophie what she had to do, but he knew he’d never be able to live with himself if there was even the slightest chance she thought he expected her to sleep with Jensen for the sake of the client.
Sophie and Eliot were moving into position. Nate glanced at Hardison. “Shift yours and Parker’s comms to a different frequency before you go,” he said, digging in his pocket and passing over his keys. “I’ll text you if we run into any technical difficulties.”
The hacker looked as though he wanted to say something, but Nate shook his head. “Go. Take care of Parker. Get me what I need.”
Once he was alone, Nate clasped his hands in front of him and tried to walk through all possible permutations of the evening’s events. He hated what was going to happen – hated it with every fiber of his being. He wanted to call an abort, pull everybody out, make it so that Sophie never had to even think about Randall Jensen.
”This isn’t exactly the first time I’ve gone to bed with a mark, Nate.” Sophie’s voice was soft in his ear, with a hint of reproach. “It’s not the end of the world – both of you are hopefully professional enough to see that.”
”I’ve got no dog in this fight,” Eliot said. Nate smiled in spite of himself. Eliot had spoken too quickly – his voice tight with barely restrained emotion. He still thinks we don’t know. He’d been the first to pick up on how strong Eliot’s feelings for Sophie really were. For a woman who made a fortune through her ability to read other people, Sophie had been remarkably blind when it came to understanding how their hitter really felt about her.
“I already told you how I feel,” he said, before either of the others could pick up on his distraction. “I trust you to be able to do your job.” He swallowed, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. “If I feel like you’re showboating, Sophie, trying to prove something you know I don’t believe needs proving, I will send Eliot in to extract you.”
“Nate…”
“No,” he said, feeling a sudden inexplicable kinship with his younger teammate. “This may be the best way to get what our client needs, but we’re not risking your safety any more than absolutely necessary. This isn’t open for discussion.”
**************
Sophie nestled into the leather-covered seat; Jensen had spared no expense to bring her to his apartment. He was a bastard – no doubt about that – but he wasn’t better at this dance than she was. Nobody was better at this dance than she was. She’d taken his measure, and was comfortable that any risks she was about to take were well worth the reward.
Convincing Nate and Eliot – that was another matter. She appreciated that Nate had done his best to give her space and not pressure her to decide one way or the other. Somebody with a tenth of her ability could tell just from the tone in his voice that he hadn’t wanted her to go anywhere near Jensen. And he’d kept Eliot from pressuring her – under the circumstances, that was nothing short of a miracle.
”It’s cruel.” Once she and Nate had established their boundaries, Sophie had argued for excluding Eliot from monitoring her time with Jensen. ”You know how he feels.” Nate had then quite calmly – and correctly – pointed out that if Eliot was going to be her failsafe, he needed to know what was happening in real time. She’d then had a brief, completely disloyal moment where she wondered if Nate was trying to take advantage of the situation to punish Eliot for his interest in her.
They were going to need to talk about things. Even without any of them saying a word, Sophie could feel the two men as close as if they were snugged in on either side of her. She liked the feeling. Nate and she had found their balance, but he would never be ready to give her everything she needed. The growing attraction between her and Eliot seemed to suggest that he would fill the empty places in her life perfectly.
Except neither of them is the type to share.
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