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Chapter Text

" And the Crown of King Arthur" and "And the Sword in the Stone":

Hardison finishes covering the tracks of Leverage International in their last case. Hitting 'enter' and humming the Star Wars theme song to himself, he fist pumps the air. "Done! That's what I'm talkin' - about?" Frowning, Hardison leans closer to his computer screen to read the alert that popped up. His eyes widen and, wasting no time, he spins out of his chair and vaults for the stairs that lead to the bedroom. "Eliot! Eliot, get your butt down here!"

"So what you're saying is you did too good a job on an ID again?" Parker asks, leaning in to peer at the alert.

Hardison cuts neatly in front of her, warily watching her sticky, chocolate covered fingers. They better not get anywhere near his screen. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Someone looked up Eliot's 'Jacob Stone' ID from that job in Oklahoma back when Leverage was still a teeny tiny baby in Nate's brain, and -"

"Dammit, Hardison," Eliot groans, starting to pace like a caged animal. "I should just be thankful I'm not being kidnapped by Russians, shouldn't I?"

"Hey!" the hacker complains, waving his index finger back and forth in an 'nuh-uh' motion. "No one complained when Alice White got called in for jury duty! What's so bad now?"

"What's so - Hardison! That was jury duty! This is someone actively searching for Jacob Stone, for reasons unknown. It was bad enough I got invited for a different job the first time, this is ten years later! And unless you want to scrub that ID, get me a plane ticket for Oklahoma." Turning on his heel, Eliot storms out of the room, tossing over his shoulder, "I'm goin' to pack."

Eliot grew up in a small town like this, so fitting in at the bar as just another country boy is easy. Languages, like the one on the strange woman's arm, are also an easy part of playing the genius. Between the army, his early jobs as a retrieval specialist and bodyguard, and then his time with Leverage, he's picked up quite a few. Pretending to be the person who only ever fought in bar fights, that's the hard part. Well, that and "Ninjas, Hardison! Ninjas. In Oklahoma looking for Jacob Stone. What the hell?"

Parker, of course, starts verbal vomiting about how fantastic that is, how jealous it makes her that Eliot gets to fight "ninjas, Eliot, ninjas! You're so lucky!"

They both ignore Hardison's protests about "how was I supposed to expect ninjas? No one ever expects ninjas, that's kind of the point Eliot!"

The magical library doesn't help matters one bit.

Ezekiel Jones doesn't recognise Jacob Stone as world-renowned hitter Eliot Spencer, even though Parker only needs a few seconds on the button cam's video to ID him. "I've run into him once or twice," she says vaguely, spinning around in a roller chair out of Hardison's reach. "Possibly literally. I maybe stole his mark before he reached it."

Hardison crows that no recognition came from the other thief because of his terrific hacking job. Eliot rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue. For once, he gives the hacker his righteous win.

Eliot can take care of himself, even against any not-ninjas that Stone might have after him. Magic, though… that could be helpful to know about, which will only happen if Stone sticks around.

"Are you sure, Eliot?" Hardison asks doubtfully, making grabby hands at Parker, who stole his orange soda. "You won't be able to come home, and I don't trust them to watch your back."

Parker swallows some of the orange soda, makes a face, and tosses it back at Hardison for him to fumble with, cursing as he tries to prevent it from spilling. "Especially when you're not Eliot, Eliot," she informs him.

"I appreciate that, darlings," Eliot drawls, keeping an eye out for the other Librarians so their whispered comm conversation stays secret. "But I promise you, if I'm ever in real danger, the con ends. Besides, while the others may not have any combat experience, the Colonel certainly does - NATO Counter-Terrorism. She'll watch my back."

"NATO Counter- and how do you know that?" Hardison says exasperatedly. "A distinctive haircut? Gun? Stance?"

"She told me," Eliot rolls his eyes, but can't help a small grin as Parker bursts into cackling laughter.

As simple as that, and Eliot ends up acting as the grifter in a long con. No one says anything about how much they'll miss the others. It doesn't need to be said.

Thankfully for Eliot, Stone is an art historian genius. Any other kind would have been impossible to handle on his own. After five years spent non-stop around world-renowned art thief Sophie Devereaux, though, it's remarkably easy - especially with Hardison's voice in his ear, whispering small details to fill in the blanks.

Cassandra Cillian betrays them, and Eliot Spencer really should have seen it coming. Everyone has a weak spot, something they want, and she has one more prominent and easier to find than most. He hadn't seen it coming, though. As a thief himself, he watched the other thief the most. Even when Cillian is back with them, he can't find it in himself to forgive her. It took him a long time to forgive Sophie after an entire year working together, and for Cillian it will take even longer. *You don't con your own crew.*

Eliot pointedly ignores the fact that he's doing the same thing.

Out of all the places the Annex could be physically anchored to, Eliot never expected Portland. He just doesn't have that kind of luck. And yet, as he walks into the Bridgeport BrewPub to greet his partners, as Parker jumps him like a clingy monkey and Hardison leans in to kiss him gently, as he kisses back, Eliot dares to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they do.

" And Santa's Midnight Run":

Santa Claus, of all people - Eliot's ear still rings from Parker's screech at the news, and she hasn't stopped begging for an autograph since - tells Jacob Stone he knows "both incarnations of him." Eliot fights to keep his face still, but knows he failed. "Both incarnations of him" can only mean one thing - that Santa knows Jacob Stone is actually Eliot Spencer.

After those words, Parker goes utterly silent, and Hardison begs him to "get out, Eliot, abort mission! Abort!"

Eliot says nothing, knowing that is answer enough for them, as he locks eyes with Santa. If you tell them, they say, I will beat you into such a pulp your sleigh turns blood red.

Santa only winks back and doesn't say a word throughout the entire day.

Jacob Stone gets his Christmas bar fight, but Eliot Spencer keeps his secret.

" And the Apple of Discord":

Stone picks up the apple of discord, but it's Eliot who's affected by it. The moment he picks it up, he's drawn to one place and one place only - San Lorenzo, to kill Damien Moreau once and for all. He didn't before, because he's not that man anymore. He refuses to be that man again, and with every ounce of fight within him he gasps out a cry for help. It's silent enough that no one around him hears, but Hardison's comms pick up every vibration, and that proves enough.

"Eliot?" Parker asks, her fear for him clear in her voice. It isn't every day the hitter asks for help, so he completely understands. "Eliot, are you ok?"

"I can't," he manages to whisper. "I can't… I have no control. I have no control, Parker, I can't…" He can hear fear in his own voice now, and he hears the quiver of Hardison's ragged breathing worsen over the comms, which makes it unforgivable. "Tell me what to do. Give me an order, now, and I'll do it. I'll do it for you. Anything."

"Eliot," Hardison whispers like his heart is breaking, but Parker understands. She tells him to steal a small, inconsequential painting from a nearby museum. She gives him a reason that fits with his grift, and it works. Parker's order, the fear in their voices… no version of Eliot could ever refuse those.

" And the Fables of Doom":

The fear he heard then is nothing compared to the fear he hears when his comm finally comes back online. He's thankful for Jones turning him into a robot to beat the wolves - it meant he didn't have to reveal how good he actually is at fighting in order to survive the fairy tale - but it created a new frequency that messed with the comms. They were on the blitz for 273 seconds while Hardison got them back up and running. Eliot knows that because when they start working again the first thing he hears is Parker's voice counting up: "-3, 274, 275-"

"I'm here," he rasps, and Parker's voice stutters to a halt.

Hardison whispers "thank God," and Eliot can't help but agree. This con… this separation… it hurts them all. They get most nights together, thanks to the Annex being in Portland, but during jobs only the comms and button cam connect them. If something happens to either side, it will take too long for the other to reach them to be of any help. That may have worked once upon a time when they were lone wolves, but now they are more than pack. They survive together or not at all, and taking the risks they do, Eliot knows that something breaking is inevitable. The questions remain, though: what will be the final spark, and what fire will it light?

" And the Rule of Three":

Every word Stone gives to someone else about his past matches one Eliot holds inside himself, matches who Eliot might have become if he had stayed in his small town instead of joining the army. The best actor, Sophie taught him, tells the truth.

" And the Heart of Darkness":

The words are out before Eliot can stop them. *"Cause I'm thinking fire, huh? We burn the joint down."* Hardison's frantic rambling, nonstop ever since Baird revealed they were in the original haunted house, comes to a sudden halt in his ear. Parker, who usually picks up the slack whenever both her boys go silent, doesn't start talking. Baird and Cillian can't hide their horror at the idea, which probably also stems from his idea not corresponding in any way with Stone's character. Katie starts screaming at him about how her friends are still in the house, and so is his.

Except that's the problem, isn't it, Eliot thinks to himself as he closes off from the rest of them. The Librarians and their Guardian aren't friends, not yet. Not quite. They're like Leverage in the early stages. Jones still runs from danger half the time, even Cillian doesn't completely trust herself, Baird views protecting them as a duty, and Stone conceals the fact that he's actually Spencer.

Despite all of that, Eliot does want to become friends with them. This isn't a regular con, and they're not marks, so he sees no problem with it. He even thinks it'll happen eventually, just not for awhile yet. And until that happens, Eliot's number one goal, above anything else, is returning home safely and in one piece to his family. If that means abandoning people likely already dead, then that's what he'll do. He won't like it, and it may not be doing the right thing, but it also doesn't make him the bad guy. Like he reassured Parker all those years ago on that mountain, it just makes Eliot… Eliot.

A short while later, Cillian has saved them all, Jones can only be described as acting like their little brother, and the Colonel sleeps on Stone's shoulder. Eliot thinks friendship… well. It may just have come sooner than he thought.

When he mumbles this into the giant hug Hardison and Parker have him wrapped up in upon his return, they both laugh. "Dude," the hacker says, "the exact same thing happened at the beginning of Leverage, I don't know why you're so surprised."

"Little Eliot is making friends," the thief mocks, patting him on the head even as Eliot tries to swat her hand away.

"Parker, I have friends," the hitter growls. "You've met them, hell, you've had dinner with 'em. And if I'm short, you, darling, are even shorter. Boots with heels can't change that."

Parker just grins cheekily and runs off with his latest bracelet. Eliot gives chase, leaving Hardison to collapse to the floor laughing.

" And the City of Light":

Stone flirts on occasion because it's part of his character, though nothing ever comes from it.* In Eliot's ear, Hardison gives him grief about it, and Parker kisses him extra hard when he gets home. They all might be used to their partners flirting for cases, but that doesn't mean they have to like it.

" And the Loom of Fate":

Eliot held back tears as Baird died in his arms. Then, Flynn, Jenkins, and the Colonel graduated the Librarians in Training in a way that seemed awfully reminiscent of Sophie and Nate passing on Leverage to his trio. He shared a single glance with Ezekiel, no words, and then they both ran off to join Cassie on a mission.

Eliot thinks there's a chance that they aren't just friends; they're well on their way to becoming his second family. The only thing standing in their way, now, is the fact that they only know him as Jacob Stone.

On their way out of the Annex, Baird pulls each of them aside and tells them about their other worlds. She means well, Eliot knows: means to tell them that they can survive on their own, to erase any self-doubt about their capability as full-fledged Librarians.

Except, if the other him was the Librarian for ten years, then what happened to Leverage? He would have gotten the offer right at the beginning, before they became a family. Eliot tries not to, but he can't help but picture it: Nate sending Stone to the interview to keep up the ID, getting the job, accepting the job, leaving Leverage, leaving -

Baird doesn't mention anyone else being there, doesn't mention any comms. She doesn't mention Parker or Hardison, and that's enough for Eliot to know in the other timeline, they aren't his partners. It's enough for him to know he never wants to be in that timeline. Not ever. The hitter can't imagine a world without his thief or his hacker, can't imagine the type of man he would be. That isn't a life worth living, not even for a little while.

Chapter Text

" And the Drowned Book":

After Peru, the Librarians separate and Leverage International joins up again. During the six months Eliot worked out of the Annex, Hardison and Parker worked jobs on their own, occasionally bringing in friends when needed. The hardest missions were the ones when the three of them ran two separate ones at the same time. With Stone now 'graduated' and working on his own though, well. Eliot isn't.

They decide to go back and forth, focusing on Leverage jobs except when his Clippings Book gives them a Librarian one. It works well for them, though Hardison and Parker often travel separately from Eliot on the latter jobs because Stone has to take the Back Door. It's nice working with a team he can be himself around again. The other Librarians and Baird trust him to watch their backs, to a certain extent: they know he'll do his best, but they don't know what his best is. Hardison and Parker do, and it's thrilling to watch those smirks form on their faces as he ambushes the guards holding them at gunpoint.

And yet at the same time, Eliot misses his new friends. He wants to show them the man he truly is; he wants them to know Eliot Spencer. And suddenly, in New York City facing down fictional characters and a tropical storm, he gets that chance and the words don't come. He can practically taste them on his tongue, but his mouth won't move. Stone hugs Cassie and fist bumps Ezekiel and goes to face down a sun, but the words don't come. He can whisper just-in-case "take care of yourselves" and "I love you darlings" to his partners, but the words "my name is Eliot Spencer" don't make a sound.

" And What Lies Beneath the Stones":

The shapeshifter mission proves difficult. Pure luck has Eliot's 'father' leaving town right before they arrive, as no amount of hacking skills or paperwork could help grift the man into believing he has a grown son he supposedly raised.

The truths to unlock the cage take some bending, but they still work.

The one person Eliot fears fighting is himself, because it's the one fight that is never ending. The shapeshifter twists that fear only too easily, morphing into Stone and - and somehow, Eliot feels peace. He recognises that look on the 'shifter's face, and it's one he hasn't seen in the mirror in a long time. It slipped away so slowly he never noticed it was gone. Now, though, Eliot knows he may never see that *kid with God in his heart and a flag on his shoulder* again, but this is the last time he'll ever see the man with gunpowder for a soul.

Stone's character would confess that fear of failure caused him to go his own path, but that isn't the truth for Eliot. It won't bind the 'shifter. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to say. Through the comms, Hardison says firmly, "It's time, Eliot. At least for them."

Parker chirps, "We believe in you, El! And if they hate you, we'll kick their mmm! Mmm mm!" The last bit, Eliot figures, comes from the hacker's hand covering the thief's mouth. Knowing the silence in his ear won't last long, he turns to Cassie and Ezekiel.

"I didn't stay with you guys after Peru… Because every day I spent with you, it took more and more energy to keep who I am secret from you. To lie. I… I'm not who you think I am." Cassie and Ezekiel are both silent, but the hissing of a snake starting to bind the 'shifter means they can't deny his truth.

"Go on," Hardison encourages.

"My name isn't Jacob Stone. I'm not a genius in art or history - well, I suppose I kind of am after all these months, that took a lot of studying to keep straight, let me tell you -"

"Stone," Ezekiel interrupts, and Eliot stutters to a stop. He hasn't been this nervous since he revealed his connection with Moreau to his Leverage family. "Get to the point."

The hitter takes a deep breath and starts over, "My name isn't Stone. It's not even Jacob. My name is Eliot Spencer, and before I became a Librarian, I was a world-renowned hitter. Still am, actually."

The other Librarians' mouths have dropped open by the end of his spiel, and then Ezekiel starts to choke on air. "You're-! You're-!"

"Yes?" Eliot snaps.

"You're a thief like me?!"

"What?" Eliot feels his face scrunch up into what Hardison fondly calls his 'adorably but thoroughly confused face', no matter how many times Eliot tells him not to.

"All this time, you've been watching me get nothing but grief from everyone about the fact I'm a thief, and you've done absolutely zip to defend me! When you're not only a thief, you're part of Parker'screw! If I wasn't so mad right now, I'd probably be fanboying."

That, apparently, qualifies as a truth, because the second snake starts to move at the same time Parker announces, "I like him even more now."

For the moment, Eliot ignores her in favour of focusing on Cassie, who has yet to say a word. She looks at him, at the ground, and then back again. *"I didn't stay with you after Peru because I wanted to prove that I could do it alone. I liked having you there. But I knew you thought I was sick.* I guess what I'm trying to say is, I understand why you didn't tell us at first, and I understand keeping secrets from friends. Because we are, aren't we? Friends? That is why you told us the truth. You… you trust us," Cassie smiles.

Ezekiel grins, "We have to be friends, because you are going to introduce me to Parker and we are going to do terribly magnificent jobs together."

Parker herself gives a truly terrifying cackle of anticipation, while Hardison demands that he be allowed to join. Eliot smiles.

On the way out of the caves, Cassie and Ezekiel promise him they won't tell the others until he's ready. He doesn't say it, but he knows they know it'll be awhile. Telling parental figures the truth is a lot harder than siblings.

" And the Hollow Men":

Eliot can't say anything when the man steps into the Annex, but Hardison cries, "Hurley?" even as Parker asks, "What is he doing there?"

Flynn tells them all that Hurley is the Library in human form, upon which Cassie and Ezekiel glance, wide-eyed, at Eliot. The hitter himself stays quiet, but his own eyes widen when Hurley gives him a wink before stepping through the door to the Library proper. As they all follow him and Flynn, Eliot realises his entire body has relaxed. The Library could have ratted him out, could have told him to leave. Instead, he did quite the opposite, and that's a relief Eliot never knew he needed till now.

" And the Infernal Contract":

The gas blurs Eliot's vision and confuses his mind, but he's still aware enough to be thankful Cassie and Ezekiel know the truth. It means he doesn't have to explain the tears escaping as he says his goodbyes to Parker and Hardison, let alone why he's talking to thin air. And later, as Eliot gets more and more agitated sitting through the prescribed three hours of recovery, the youngest Librarians distract Baird and Jenkins while he keys up home through the Back Door.

Eliot enters the BrewPub through the front doors, exhausted to the point he's nearly falling down. A few feet away, Amy lets out an exclamation, calls for "Boss" to come quickly, manoeuvres one of Eliot's arms across her shoulders, and saves his cup from falling to the ground all at once. Over her years running Leverage's cover and home, she rose through the ranks to become Hardison's right hand. Thankfully she also grew accustomed to the people living there, which means in situations like this one, she knows exactly what to do.

Hardison and Parker burst out of the back, the latter quickly taking Amy's place. The former spares the hostess a quick smile of thanks as he grabs the cup before supporting Eliot's other side. Together, the three of them move towards their living space.

"You're ok, right? He's ok, right?" Hardison asks anxiously, first of Eliot and then of Parker.

They both nod, and the thief says, "Jenkins said three hours of rest, right? Eight if you start moving around. You definitely did that, which means," Eliot and the hacker both chime in, "movie or TV marathon in bed for all of us." The trio shares a small smile, happy to be together. Happy to be so in tune with one another, with what they all need in times like this, that they they can speak in unison.

Along those lines, Parker gives as much of a bow in Eliot's direction as she can while also supporting his weight. "As usual, movie choice is awarded to the injured."

Eliot hums in appreciation of the distraction - from the mission and the pain. "Musketeers." He kicks off his own shoes when they reach the bed, but lets Hardison take his full weight while Parker pulls back the covers; he climbs in and lays back against the mountain of pillows. Hardison grabs the remote from the stand as Eliot continues, "Sword fights, comedy, romance, and trickery. Right up our alley."

His thief nods and her eyes light up as she climbs carefully onto the bed - avoiding, he knows, accidentally shaking the furniture and causing him pain - and curls into Eliot. He wraps his arm around her, the other taking the tea from Hardison as he joins them sitting up, movements just as careful as Parker's. The hacker's hip presses firmly against Eliot's shoulder, and the hitter hums again as he lifts the cup to his lips. Jenkins is wonderful, and he knows Baird's lecture will be a sight to behold, but this is the way Eliot prefers to recover from another near death experience.

" And the Image of Image":

Ezekiel says they were chosen to be Librarians because they're expendable; no one in the outside world will miss them when they're gone. Hardison and Parker immediately start protesting, but Eliot stays silent. The truth is, once upon a time, Ezekiel would have been right. Eliot had no one when the Library first invited Jacob Stone within its walls. It had been the very beginning of Leverage, before they became a family. They can't change the past, but they've already changed the future. That'll just have to be enough.

" And the Point of Salvation":

Thanks to Hardison, Eliot is well-versed in video game lore and can thoroughly enjoy rocket-jumping. Nothing beats the sound of his hacker's high-pitched, incredulous, jealousy-filled squealing though.

Stone says Ezekiel turned into a "half-way decent person", shakes his head, and turns away as if he can't believe the bad luck he has for Ezekiel to be his old self again. In a way, he can't. The man the video game turned the other thief into was someone who understood the dangers of the lives they lead, both as Librarians and as thieves. But that's outweighed by the relief that Ezekiel no longer understands, because his response was too close to home for comfort. Ezekiel Jones, upon his realisation, sacrificed himself time and time again for his team - his family - even when it was for what he thought to be the last time, and that isn't Ezekiel's job. It's Baird's, as their Guardian. It's Stone's, when Eliot Spencer pushes aside the mask for the final time. It will never be Ezekiel's.

" And the Happily Ever Afters" and "And the Final Curtain":

Prospero had them all under a spell for three weeks. They hadn't been taken while on a mission, which meant no button cam or comms for Eliot. Usually, that would have just been a setback for Hardison, but Prospero did one thing right accidentally: he put them in a small town with minimal security cameras the hacker could pull feeds from. Couple that with all the fake magical identities, and Eliot's partners didn't know where he was, or if he was even alive, for three whole weeks. He can feel the remnants of their fear in Parker's kiss and Hardison's hug and the way they both refuse to let go. He has to tell them goodbye as he puts the comm and button cam back on, has to gently unwrap his thief's fingers from his shirt, has to pull his hacker's fingers from around his waist, has to wrap their fingers together in replacement of his own. Eliot has to go beat Prospero once and for all so that he'll never hurt the ones the hitter loves again.

Chapter Text

" And the Rise of Chaos":

Baird insists on teaching Stone how to fight. She says he has all the raw talent with none of the training, and Eliot honestly wants to break into hysterical laughter. He can't because of all the questions it would bring. Hardison and Parker, on the other hand, have no such compunction.

" And the Reunion of Evil":

Eliot uses every trick in the grifter handbook to try and convince the frost giants he's the real Finklestein. In the end, he fails, and he can't help but think it's because he's out of practice. He's been with the Library for almost two years now. Over that time, Jacob Stone's character has grown and developed into someone resembling Eliot Spencer, thanks to Eliot himself pushing in that direction as quickly as can be believed. At the same time, they've all become a family, and with Cassie and Ezekiel both knowing the truth… well. It's not so much a con anymore. More like keeping a very big secret.

Hardison says if that's the case, he very much wants to meet Eliot's younger brother and sister. Meet the family, as it were. Eliot looks between the hacker and Parker, thinks about them in the same room as Cassie and Ezekiel, and firmly shakes his head.

"When the others find out," he decides. He'll need all the help he can get to contain the explosion bound to follow.

" And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy":

The entire 'trapped in a prophecy cube cut off from the world' trip is, apparently, the breaking point for Hardison. He enlists Parker to steal everything Eliot carries around, from his clothes to his wallet - a job the thief does gleefully, dancing around the growling hitter. They essentially play monkey in the middle with the items: Parker steals an item and tosses it to Hardison, who attaches a tracker to it before tossing it back to Eliot; while he scrambles to catch each item Parker steals another. Within an hour, the hitter has no less than six tracking devices on him, all designed so that the program receiving the signal sends out an SOS the moment one gets disrupted. The thief and the hacker refuse to lose their hitter again, and despite all the fuss Eliot made during the process, he's quite happy with that.

" And the Tears of a Clown":

Kirby may have had magic that changed Stone into the strong man, but he didn't think to check for any electronics beyond phones. When Eliot gets home, it's to Parker leaping into his arms before Hardison wraps them both up in his longer arms. He had been watching through the button cam, the hacker explains:

One minute, everything was fine. The next, clowns jumped Eliot from behind. Hardison prepared to do nothing, however painful it would be. When they first realised they would be doing separate missions, they had agreed to wait a certain amount of time. To give the other's team a chance at rescue first. Despite that, Hardison continued to watch, which meant he caught the moment the button cam showed the rest of Stone's team in the same situation.

"Only then did Hardison call for me," Parker grumbles.

"Woman!" said man complains. "Who's telling the story here?"

"Me now," the thief smirks, and Eliot chokes back a laugh at Hardison's half-fake enraged face. Parker continues:

Hardison called for Parker, and they both decided to head towards the carnival. An abnormal car trip from Portland to Iowa would take twenty-six hours; a normal car trip with Parker behind the wheel could cut six hours from that. Even that could be too late for Eliot, so of course they conned the pilot of a Fortune 500 company into flying them there on a private jet instead.

"Of course," Eliot grumbles, but the corner of his lips has quirked up in that way that says he's holding back a grin.

Parker grins back, and Hardison agrees "of course" before picking up the tale:

By the time they reached the carnival, Jenkins had already rescued the Librarians and their Guardian. They knew Eliot and his team would, undoubtably, be back, so they stuck around. Parker dragged Hardison onto the roller coaster, the tea cups, the ferris wheel, and the bumper cars by the time they saw Eliot again, though admittedly, he didn't put up a fight for the latter two. Both broke down laughing when they saw his clown disguise -

Parker smirks as she flourishes a picture of the hitter. Eliot's so taken aback with horror his lips pull back in a snarl, but no sound escapes. He silently promises to burn the evidence later, but for now lets Hardison continue:

- And so they lost him. By the time they found him again, Eliot's entire team had been captured once again. They watched from the wings, and once Ezekiel had the artefact in hand they left for the jet. They only managed to get back to the BrewPub before Eliot because he had to debrief and such.

"And that's it," Hardison finishes. "The Epic Journey of Hardison and Parker to Find Their Perpetually In Trouble Love."

"You didn't do anything!" Eliot protests, laughing - but he doesn't argue with the second half of the adventure's title, and two days later Parker's photo of Eliot the Clown can be seen framed on the bedroom dresser.

" And the Curse of Cindy":

When Eliot starts reciting poetry for the wonderfully transcendent Cindy, he hears another woman's voice in his ear growl that she wants to rip Cindy's head off. It doesn't register until the moment Jenkins completely frees Eliot from the love potion. Immediately, he's out the Back Door with a random excuse. He bursts through the doors of the Bridgeport BrewPub and takes the stairs at a run. Entering the bedroom area upstairs reveals both his partners sitting on the bed waiting for him, Parker practically in Hardison's lap they sit so close together.

"You here for good?" his hacker asks him worriedly, rising to meet him.

Eliot doesn't bother with words for an answer. Instead, he hooks one hand around Hardison's waist, the other around his neck, and pulls him in for a long kiss. They part for air, and that's when Parker takes her chance to squeeze in-between them, searing her lips to Eliot's.

"You're ours," she tells him firmly when they separate.

"I'm yours," Eliot agrees lowly. He pulls them all towards the bed, and they topple over onto it. He's sure he has a few hours before the Library needs him. Right now, his partners need him more.

" And the Eternal Question":

A week later, and it's the opposite. He sneaks away through the hospital halls on two missions: one, to get coffee for his Library family, and two, to tell Hardison and Parker he won't be coming home tonight. His partners are on a job of their own in Portland right now, so he knows they can't come join him. He knows the hope that they will is in his voice anyway, because to rid himself even partially of this pain he would reveal who he was to everyone. Parker murmurs softly, "El, I'm so sorry, but this is the one chance we'll get to help these people, and we just can't get to New York -"

"I know." The words come out harsh, in a way Eliot doesn't mean. His partners won't take it personally; they know him too well for that. It's a weight off his shoulders that he doesn't have to worry about pushing them away right now.

Eliot turns the corner to give the coffees out, and he goes silent but leaves the comm on. Parker and Hardison start up a running commentary of their job. After more than a decade in each other's company - saving each other, loving each other - their voices calm Eliot's heartbeat. It allows him to focus on everyone around him. He gives Baird a hug she desperately needs; he follows Ezekiel around the room as neither of them can stop moving, constantly by his brother's side; he trades looks with Jenkins and Flynn, sharing their hopes that Cassandra makes it. The entire time, Eliot's partners keep talking. They never stop, and for him, he knows they never will.

" And the Fatal Separation":

Eliot can finally let loose in a fight. Any martial arts he uses in front of his Library family can, to a certain extent at least, be blamed on his training at Shangri-La. That he no longer has to worry if any injuries inflicted on everyone else could have been avoided if he had simply revealed himself is a debt he'll never be able to repay. The magical tattoo with unknown powers, on the other hand… well. Eliot isn't sure about it yet, and probably won't be until he knows what it does.

" And the Wrath of Chaos":

Eliot won't admit it to Baird and Flynn, but they just pulled a con worthy of Nate Ford and Sophie Deveraux, something that he's awfully proud of them for despite the fact that they broke the number one rule and conned their own crew. It's definitely the best circumstances for it that he's ever seen, though.

Apparently, Eliot now walks around with the ability to grant people souls on his arm. Looking around at his Library family, united and victorious, he thinks that if he can manage that, he can manage just about anything. Eliot also thinks that includes finally telling Jenkins, Baird, and Flynn that he's not really Jacob Stone. It's been almost three years, after all. As Hardison constantly reminds him, if they can't accept him for who he really is then they aren't the family he thinks they are. Eliot will wait just a little longer, though. He doesn't want to upset the balance of their recent victory quite yet.

In the end, Eliot doesn't get a choice.

Chapter Text

The Librarians, their Guardian, and Jenkins are researching a new mission, simple and easy compared to Apep and DOSA. Eliot has the button cam on, like always, but he knows Hardison isn't watching the footage. Leverage International has their own job to do in New York, so they're only connected to Eliot through comms.

Soft thumps from Parker climbing through the vents, the swish of her bangs against her ear; the rapid tap-tap-tap of Hardison's fingers on his keyboard; the bang of Lucille the Sixth's doors swinging open; the screech of the vent floor collapsing beneath the weight of the thief; the startled yelps from both of Eliot's partners; their voices calling his name before they suddenly fall silent, replaced by the sound of tasers: the comms pick up it all.

They hadn't contacted Quinn, or Miranda, or Shelley, or any of the other hitters they know. They didn't think they needed to. It was supposed to be an easy job, in and out, something they could do in their sleep. Now something has gone wrong, and Eliot is on the other side of the country, and he needs to be there, he needs to be there, "I need to be there," he growls. In the seconds that have passed since he heard everything over the comms, he's traveled across the Annex to start dialling up the Back Door. He can sense everyone else's astonished gazes on his back, but he ignores them. They aren't important right now.

"Stone?" Cassie asks cautiously, and he grunts in response, but continues to focus on the Door. Cassie and Ezekiel will understand, they have to. He's told them about his partners before.

"Parker," he tells them, ignoring that he probably sounds as helpless as he feels. "Hardison. I need to be there, I need to be with them, they need my help and they need it now. I'm going."

"You heard them on comms?" Ezekiel asks, and Eliot turns enough to nod in response that he sees the thief straighten. He's moving into serious-mode, and Eliot knows it's because he understands the amount of trouble they could be in. He's been where they are, and he also knows Eliot Spencer's reputation.

The Back Door glows, and Eliot wrenches it open.

"Where are we going?" Ezekiel asks, and it causes the hitter to pause for the first time since hearing tasers.

"You're coming?"

"Of course we are," Cassie smiles softly.

Eliot pauses, looking between them. It could be dangerous, but… but he needs all the help he can get on such short notice. "New York City, Wall Street."

The three of them move towards the Door, only for Flynn to step between it and them. "Wait, where are you going?" the elder Librarian asks, incredulous. "We have a missi-"

"I'm leaving," Eliot growls, baring his teeth, posturing, threatening; he's not Jacob Stone right now. They may be his family, but Parker and Hardison are his partners, his lovers, his darlings. If saving them means cutting ties with the Library, then that's what he'll do.

Baird knows it, her hardened expression tells him that. "We're coming with you," she says.

"We're what?" Flynn cries. "Eve, the mission -"

"This is important to Stone," their Guardian says evenly, keeping eye contact with Eliot. "We're family; we help each other."

"Wonderfully said, Colonel," Jenkins agrees, stepping forward. "Onward unto the breach, Stone. We'll follow your lead."

Baird joins the Caretaker, and Flynn grumbles but does the same.

Eliot nods, turns, and steps through the Door.

They emerge onto Wall Street. Eliot can see the building Parker broke into from here, but across the street from them is Lucille the Sixth, usually parked by their NYC headquarters. Her doors are shut and nothing appears wrong to a normal person. Eliot isn't a normal person, though, so he knows the two men sharing a smoke under the awning behind her are guarding Hardison's precious van. They won't be for much longer, if he has anything to say about it.

Eliot crosses the street, strolls right up to the men, and pulls them into the shadows of an alley. They barely have time to react before they hit the ground, out cold. The hitter snags car keys from the lead man's pocket, turns back around, and unlocks Lucille the Sixth. "Let's go!" he called to the rest of the Library, still standing on the sidewalk gaping at him. "Lucille will be our base for this job, but the mark knows her which means we have to move quickly. Everyone in, now."

They obey, and Eliot tears off towards the mark's building while speaking rapid fire, "Our goal is plain and simple, rescue. Hardison and Parker," he opens the glove box, pulls out the photo he knows his hacker keeps there, and passes it to Cassie, "were here on a separate job that we won't worry about; we'll pass it on to someone else once they're safe. There's no more police around here than usual, so the mark, Jules Anthony, hasn't called the police. That means he'll be holding them somewhere secure in his own building. It's probably the guards' centre, and we'll hopefully have confirmation soon. For now, Cassie, pull up Hardison's notes on the building and Anthony, Jones, you're on Parker's plan. Search for anything significant. Any questions?"

There's silence for a moment, and Eliot takes that chance to observe the high number of guards in the building's lobby. Then the van explodes with noise.

"The guard centre is on the tenth floor, in the exact middle of the building -"

"Who are Parker and Hardison, and how do you know them -"

"Parker went in from the top to get to the main office, but we can go in from the bottom -"

"Why were your friends breaking and entering, and what do you mean by mark -"

"Where did you learn how to fight like -"

"EVERYBODY QUIET," Cassie bellows, quite a large sound coming from such a small woman. Eliot would be surprised, but he's used to it thanks to Parker. "Jones, go. How do we get to the tenth floor?"

"Parker went in from the top, so that's where the guards are watching. We need to get in from the bottom. Give me a minute to snatch a key card. Then the only problem is getting into the station itself."

"Leave that to me and Baird," Eliot says. "Go steal two cards, ok? I'll pull Lucille back around in a minute."

Ezekiel nods and, when the hitter pulls to a stop, darts out the back door.

Baird isn't as compliant. "Stone, what exactly are we doing? You -"

"Eliot?" Parker whispers, and the hitter jolts, putting a finger to his ear as though he can reach through the comm and pull her into the safety of Lucille.

"I'm here, Parker. We're all here. We have Lucille and we're circling the building now. Is Hardison with you? Where are you?"

She laughs softly. "We're both in the guards centre. Hardison's fine; he slipped right from unconsciousness to sleep. He's drooling, El. The job's a bust and we've been captured, and he's drooling."

"Dammit, Hardison," Eliot laughs. "Are you alone? Can you wake him up?"

"There's four guards outside the door, but none in here. I could reach Hardison if I busted out of my bonds, but they've been keeping an eye on me. I don't want to alert them before you get here."

Eliot comes to a stop at the front of the building long enough for Ezekiel to climb in, and then they're moving again. "I'm coming for you, Parker," he swears, and then turns back to the others. "Right, Parker's confirmed they're in the guard centre, so here's the plan. Flynn and Ezekiel, you cause a distraction for the lobby guards so they don't realise Baird and I don't match our badge pictures. Baird, you and I walk in like we belong and take the elevator to the tenth floor. Knock out the four guards. Pick up Parker and Hardison. Get to - Cassie, is there a service entrance, some kind of back door?"

A moment, then - "Yes! For smoking, it looks like. Opens into the alley in back."

"Great. We'll get there. You and Jenkins meet us with Lucille, and then we swing around to pick up Flynn and Ezekiel. Simple rescue. To make it even easier, everyone take a comm from that box on the desk. We'll be able to communicate."

"Comms…" Baird says slowly as she picks one up and looks it over, then looks to Eliot. "That's how you knew they were in trouble. Ezekiel said, but it slipped my mind in light of everything else. You're in constant communication with this 'Parker' and 'Hardison', even while on Library business?"

Eliot nods, and Flynn and Jenkins' faces both contort in disbelief. The hitter isn't surprised - the Library has survived this long because of all the secrecy, after all, and this is a major breach - but he also doesn't care. It's go time, and he tells them such by climbing out of the van and beginning to walk back to Anthony's building.

Everything, remarkably, goes to plan. The way Hardison's eyes lit up when he woke to see Eliot standing over him is a bonus, as are the words he says when the hitter rebukes him for falling asleep while captured: "I didn't need to worry; I knew you would rescue us." After that, it's a simple matter of changing Lucille the Sixth's plates and parking her in her usual spot. Then, they all go through the Back Door back to the Annex - including Parker and Hardison. That's when the hard part starts.

They all sit around the room. Eliot wraps an arm around both his partners, each on either side of him in their own chairs, supportive though obviously curious about the place they've only seen on camera before. Ezekiel and Cassie take the stairs, Jenkins elects to stand, and Baird and Flynn sit together on the opposite side of the table.

"Start from the beginning," the Caretaker advises. "That's always the best place."

His fellow young Librarians nod in support, and Eliot takes a deep breath before beginning. It's easier, somehow, to start now than it was a year ago. "My name isn't Jacob Stone. It's Eliot Spencer. Besides being a Librarian, I'm a hitter and a conman. Parker and Hardison are my partners, both in business and in life. We help people when the law isn't enough, which is why I stuck around the Library instead of leaving. Over the years, you all have become another family for me. For that reason, if you ask me to leave I will do so."

They don't ask him to leave. Flynn is in shock he didn't see it before, Baird claps him on the shoulder before knocking their forearms together, and Jenkins tells him the Library never makes a mistake - not even with con artists. It may take them longer to truly get used to it or trust him again, but they've been through so many things together, saved each other's lives countless times… it's a good place to start, and for the first time in three years, Eliot feels free.

Eliot had seen the looks both Baird and Cassie gave Parker when they saw her picture for the first time, and he saw them again, heightened, when they met in person. Surprise, wonder, fear: every possible emotion, it seemed, had been there. Both ignored whatever the problem was during the rescue mission, for which Eliot was thankful. After his confession, though, Baird pulls his thief aside with a hard look, and Cassie practically sprints across the room to join them. Eliot starts towards them, hackles rising, but Parker intercepts him with a single look. I got this, it says. I promise I won't get stabbed… or stab anyone. No stabbing. The hitter trusts his thief, and so he steps into a separate corner where he can observe from a distance.

Flynn left the room, likely to settle himself - he may have accepted and forgiven Eliot, but the hitter knows a bruised ego and emotional hurt when he sees it - and Ezekiel and Hardison are geeking out together in another corner. Jenkins, on the other hand, steps up beside Eliot. He doesn't block his view, and it's not the first time that Eliot is glad the Caretaker is a fellow soldier.

"I imagine," Jenkins begins, "that the Colonel and Cassandra are both off put by your lover's remarkable resemblance to the Lady of the Lake. Indeed, if I knew the Lady never left her Lake, even I would think they were the same person."

Eliot starts and takes an eye of Parker to glance at the Caretaker. He's relaxed against the wall, calmly observing the interrogation across the way, same as the hitter. "Lady of the Lake?"

"Yes. There are several, and I knew them all, once upon a time. They assisted Merlin when he asked. As Galahad, I often accompanied him to the Lake, and bore witness to more than one of their conversations. The last I saw of them, they retreated into their Lake, where they stayed to safeguard Excalibur for centuries. Their leader could be your Parker's twin, and considering both the Colonel and Cassandra have met her, well… I imagine it was quite a shock."

As Jenkins says all of this, Parker shakes her head multiple times, speaking vehemently. Whatever she says - Eliot imagines it's something along the lines of absolutely not being the Lady, there's rarely anything good to steal at the bottom of a Lake - it convinces her interrogators, who both subside. Baird steps out of his thief's way, and she practically skips her way over to Hardison, smiling satisfactorily at the awestruck expression Ezekiel gains. Eliot gives a nod of thanks to Jenkins, and goes to join them.

The first time Eliot reveals that, unlike Stone, he can cook, Flynn and Baird practically burst into tears of joy.

Chapter Text

“And the Dark Secret”:

Working with the other Librarians now that they all know his secret is nothing more or less than a strange miracle. They know what he can do and trust him to do it, but all of Stone’s mistakes are now Spencer’s as well. It’s not like before, when he had to weigh how much the art historian could accomplish versus how much the hitter could, and whether leaning more towards the latter was necessary in order to survive. Sometimes he forgets he can go all out, others he acts more like Stone than Spencer, and sometimes it’s both - like when he refused to hit the priest, resulting in the capture of the other two newest Librarians. Sitting beside them in the car, staring at their captors and rubbing his jaw where the priest kicked him, all he can do is berate himself for the mistake and silently promise that he’ll do better next time.

Next time is knocking a priest unconscious and successfully identifying a negative powered stone to bring Flynn and Nicole back safely, and Eliot couldn’t be happier.

“And the Steal of Fortune”:

The first time Eliot Spencer became Jacob Stone, he had met Slayton. While they only knew each other for the short length of the job, they had hit it off thanks to their mutual love of horses. When they parted, it was with Slayton’s number in Eliot’s pocket and a promise to keep in touch. It took a few years, but eventually, the hitter kept his promise and they had been friends ever since.

Maybe it was that easy conversation, maybe it was Eliot still struggling to be Eliot in front of the Librarians, maybe it was the already existing invitation to visit, but when Flynn laid down the challenge of no relationships outside the Library, it was to Slayton that Eliot dragged Jones to prove otherwise. Especially since apparently, his relationship with Parker and Hardison counted no more than Flynn’s with Baird’s since they had “been by his side the entire time.” Poppycock, as Jensen would put it, but Jake turned to Slayton all the same and by the end, he was glad he did.

“I think I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing. It’s working for me.” Eliot smiled and gave a wave as he left. He often had to lie to his friend as a hitter, and being a Librarian only added to the lies, but at least in this he could tell the truth. Eliot Spencer - hitter, Librarian, lover - was happy exactly as he was.