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The first thing Eliot was aware of as he forced himself back into consciousness was throbbing pain from the back of his head. That, and the fuzziness that lay over his thoughts as he recalled what had happened. Thinking was hard, but he struggled through what he could.
They’d been on a mission, it was supposed to just be a quick in and out but he’d gotten caught up with the bodyguards and one of them had landed a few good hits before he could get away. He didn’t like leaving with them still conscious, but they hadn’t had any other choice. If they’d spent any longer they would have had their entire cover blown. As a last-ditch effort one of the thugs had started chucking things at the car, and if the welt swelling behind his ear meant anything he would put money on the fact he was the lucky one to have been hit.
He cataloged any injuries he could without opening his eyes, not sure what exactly he would find when he did. The concussion was a given; slight nausea, the headache- mild but nothing he couldn’t handle. He flexed and shifted slightly, no broken bones, but something he found odd was the fact there was a blanket over him. He was with the team last he remembered, but it was obvious they weren’t in the car anymore. He was laying on something soft, a couch. The office then.
No one else was in the room with him, he’d have been able to tell even in his compromised state, but he could hear a faint voice from the conference room. Nate, but Eliot couldn’t hear any responses. That meant the others had to be out on the mission still.
Eliot didn’t like the thought of that one bit. He was their muscle and they’d just seen firsthand what these guys were capable of. He sat up, would have stood to march right into the conference room and demand to be brought up to date if the entire world wouldn’t have started spinning before he could even get his eyes open. In a desperate attempt to stay upright he took the arm of the chair in a death grip, trying to wait out the dizzy spell.
Sitting upright only made him more aware of what else could pose a threat to him going straight back into the field. While he, and the whole team really, took pride in how in control of themselves they were, it appeared that the fuzziness in his thoughts might not only be from the concussion.
It had taken a long ass time before any of them felt they could trust each other, let alone be vulnerable, but when you lived with the same people you considered family people’s comforts were bound to come out eventually. Alec had been the first to ‘break’ if it could be described like that. It just felt normal to find their technological mastermind watching cartoons in his pajamas, and the first few times no one batted an eye. It was only when they realized how different he acted during that where the truths started coming into play.
It was honestly a relief for Eliot, who while not ready to out himself yet, watched the others grow protective of their teammate when he felt ‘squishy brained’ as he liked to describe it. Keeping himself from, at least outwardly, letting the fuzzy and kid-like thoughts take over his brain was draining him and he wasn’t sure how much longer he would have been able to last before he cracked under the pressure. That wasn’t to say he didn’t push it off till he couldn’t anymore, just that when he did break it wasn’t as scary as he thought it might be.
The first time was the hardest, but since then he, Alec, and Parker had started a teasing war where they lovingly bullied each other for when they felt small. He would have thought that would make them all try to keep it more secret, but with it being something all three took comfort in it was more of a bonding moment than anything else. Needless to say, Nate and Sophia had immediately grown attached to them, even more protective than when they were out on missions. The only thing none of the three had perfected when they were feeling fuzzy was how to hide that from the older two.
Even so, he had to try to push it away for now. He had work to do, and the team was counting on him to play to his usual standards. On unsteady feet he forced himself up to stumble over to the conference room, not surprised to find Nate hovering over their system and talking steadily into one of their earpieces.
“All I’m saying is we have to be careful. Parker, no messing around this time, in and out. You hear me? And Hardison, I know this isn’t your usual style, but you’re going to have to find a way into his office- I know, I know, but you’ll think of something to get him out of there. All we need is five minutes to get the data off his computer and then we’ll be good for Sohpie to start framing him.” Nate said distractedly. He didn’t even notice Eliot sitting down at one of their spinny chairs just out of view. He knew his tells, and if he played this right maybe Nate would be too focused on the job to even think about if he was feeling less than his usual rough and tough self. All he had to do was avoid talking, but not too much that it got suspicious, and eventually if he surrounded himself with work he would start feeling more prepared to handle everything.
Easier said than done.
Nate paced up to the big set of screens, running a hand through his hair in what he had learned to be worry. “Parker, knock them off you, tell them that you ate something bad- with more emotion than that! You’re going to have to be convincing, I thought Sophia was giving you lessons- it doesn’t matter. Just get to the bathrooms. There should be a vent that goes straight into the meeting rooms from there. If we can get a bug in there we’re golden. I-” Right as Eliot was settling down in his chair, Nate spun around to go back to his computer, jumping a bit as he finally took in Eliot's presence. “Fucking Jesus christ, okay, everyone you know what you have to do, let’s get it done.”
With what Eliot assumed was confirmations of their tasks, Nate muted his mic through comms. “What’re you doing up? You took a nasty hit to the head, I’m not sure how much you remember but the fact that you're awake is a good sign.”
Eliot goes to nod, which wasn’t his smartest idea. He couldn’t hide the grimace at the pang from where he was hit. Nate was quick to focus on it. “Let me see your head, we were assuming a concussion. What symptoms are you feeling so far?”
The hitter sits himself up as tall as he can. He could do this, he’d be super sneaky and Nate would never know because he’s going to do such a good job at making his head not fuzzy anymore. “Concussion for sure. Um, dizzy and stuff but nothing too bad. Don’t think I was hurt anywhere else outside of the regular scrapes and bruises. I’m fine to get back on the case though, so-”
“Oh no, no, no,” He was cut off before he could even get into his defense. “At the very least you're taking the day to rest. You took a really bad hit and I need to know we have you at your best if I put you back out there. They’ll be looking for you specifically, so it’s not a good idea to send you right back into the fray- don’t look at me like that,” and Eliot knows he must have been looking absolutely dumbfounded. A rest day? He didn’t need to rest up, he’d done plenty more than most were capable of with a concussion and one of his hands tied behind his back before, this would be a breeze if it weren’t for his brain being stubborn. “Listen, you aren’t allowed to do anything even remotely touching this case till you eat and drink something. If you’re feeling up for it after that you can help me back here while the others all run surveillance from the van on-site”
Whether he meant to or not Nate had fallen out of his team leader voice and straight into his dad voice, which was a slippery slope at the moment and meant nothing good for Eliot. “But-”
“No but’s. Now, go get going. The sooner you get that done with the quicker you can be back here if that’s what you want so badly.”
And so Eliot did. He would deny spilling a little bit of orange juice, and with no one around to witness it, he felt pretty secure in keeping that secret. What to eat was a different story entirely. While he was usually one for exploring different flavors and cooking his food fresh, fuzzy brained him detested having so many tastes all combined. It was overwhelming, and yet another of his main tells. He could eat in the kitchen, but if Nate didn’t see him with something he wouldn’t let him back in, he was strict like that when it came to making sure everyone took proper care of themselves.
Some of Hardison's chicken nuggets would do instead.
He took his time, but it was only a few minutes before he was sneaking back into the conference room. Nate was distracted on comm’s once again, it seemed at least like everything had gone smoothly this time ‘round. Eliot sipped on his drink, testing the limits of his stomach and how quickly he’d be able to scarf this all down. Much to his disappointment, he didn’t think he could eat it fast enough that Nate wouldn’t notice his choice, not without risking it making a reappearance soon after.
The one-sided conversation faded out, and much to his surprise Nate didn’t comment about his half-eaten nuggets outside of a raised eyebrow. Eliot cleared his plate, and though he was hit with another dizzy spell when he stood up thought he did a good job at keeping himself steady as he brought his dishes back to the kitchen. He’d do them later, but right now he was sure that if he was given a set of comm’s he could ‘fake-it till you make it’ as the saying went.
He made it back to the room, only stumbling once thank you very much, and cursed the way it felt funny to walk in his big clunky shoes. He never wore shoes when he felt fuzzy if he could help it, it was one of the rare moments he was willing to admit his coordination lacked. The others thought it was a bit funny, but he didn’t think tripping over the ill-placed edge of a rug was all that impressive.
He did feel a bit better now that he had eaten, Nate was right about that, but that just meant he was ready to throw himself back into work, functioning up to his own standards or not.
Nate smiled at him when he sat back down in his chair, but held his arm back when he moved to grab an earpiece. He was still talking on comm’s, something about handling it, but Eliot didn’t care. He had done everything asked of him and was getting sick and tired of only hearing a quarter of what was being said. He tried to shake the older off, getting an eye roll and a sigh in response.
“Yeah. I know, I’ve got things here. Yes- okay. We’ll be fine, just- Okay, run the scans and see what comes up. Keep me posted.” Nate huffed, still keeping Eliot from hearing the other end of the conversation. It was grating on his nerves a bit, he thought he was doing really good at being big right now, why was he being treated with kiddy gloves anyway?
The moment that Nate moved his full attention to Eliot he was off, “What the hell man? I need to be caught up, why can’t I get an earpiece?” He made sure his voice had his characteristic growl to it, though he was sure it didn’t sound as intimidating as he'd like.
The other didn’t flinch at the aggressive tone, simply taking it in stride and flaunting a smirk after, as if he knew something Eliot didn’t. “I just want to be sure your head injury isn’t worse than we think before I clear you for duty,” he replied smoothly. If Eliot thought he could throttle the man without falling over he would have, he wasn’t going to prove Nate’s point for him though, he had more tact than that.
Eliot forced himself to make eye contact when he spoke next, leaving no room for suspicion. “I’m telling you I’m cleared.”
For the first time since Eliot had woken up Nate looked at him softly, loosening the stiff posture he had taken on at some point. “You don’t get to make that call bud-”
Before he could push it back down frustration built and bubbled up his throat and past his lips. Anger at himself, the situation, the sick fucks who thought they could get away with being horrible. There was more he couldn’t begin to identify, simmering right on the tip of his tongue that had been waiting for the heat to reach just enough to boil over. Parker would call it insecurities, but Eliot didn’t do those. “Just because I got hurt doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do my job! I- I can do it, jus’ give me an earpiece and I’ll show you.”
For all it was worth, Nate seemed taken aback by the sudden shift, though he recovered seamlessly. “I’m not saying you don’t know how to do your job, just that I want to play it safe right now and that you aren’t in the right mindset to be back on the case yet. You’re perfectly capable and this doesn’t make you any less of a member of the team,” he backtracked, and while the words started peeling away at the bundle of fire in his chest everything felt like too much. How did he know he wasn’t lying? How did he know that they weren’t going to use this against him?
He couldn’t pinpoint the switch where his brain gave up on trying to fight off the fogginess that had been slowly creeping past since he woke up, but in that moment he was sure he was up to his knees in it. “‘Can do it. I can be big and strong and protect everyone. ‘M not- I. I can.”
“Oh, Elly.” And that was just plain rude wasn’t it? Any hope he had at being big ripped right from his hands with that nickname and soft voice. “Bub, you don’t need to force it right now. We’ve got it all under control. We don’t want you overworking yourself when you’re already hurt, does that make sense? How about you let me take care of you, yeah?”
What else could he do but freeze? All his protests died on his tongue tasting like ash and soot, and his thoughts were too all over the place to agree on one thing to know where to start. It was all too much- he wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
He sniffed, his eyes feeling too hot.
Nate opened his arms, letting Elliot make the first move.
So he folded himself into the hug, hiding in the other man’s neck and letting the wave of emotions run its course. He isn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but Nathan’s hand was steady on his back, reminding him that he was there and everything would be alright. Soft words were mumbled into his hair, but he didn’t pay those much attention. The tone was more than enough to have him melting where they stood.
At some point they made it to a couch, but Eliot didn’t dare move, afraid that if he did it would all go away. He had his head in Nate’s lap, a hand in his hair careful to avoid the bump still forming, the other occasionally would say something over comm’s but he didn’t understand much without context. He did hide his face in Nate’s leg when he shared the team's sentiments that he felt better and that they’d come home soon but to let Nate take care of him for now. He could practically hear Sohpie’s cooing and Parker and Hardison’s teases already.
Maybe missing out on this one mission wouldn’t be so bad? He’d make it up to them on the next one, but right now he knew he was safe, and their team protected their own. If someone hurt him, they would stop at nothing to bring the bad guys down ten times as hard as any rock to the head could be.