Work Text:
The Recovery Job
The team was uncharacteristically quiet as Breanna parked the Brick and Basil truck at Leverage headquarters. Eliot sighed as he pulled himself out of his chair and stepped out of the van.
He stretched and felt the twinge in his back. Gonna be sore tomorrow.
Sophie walked up beside him. “Are you okay, Eliot? You took some hard hits on this one, darling.”
She knew jobs with kids were always rough for him. He nodded. “Okay with you if I skip the briefing on this one?”
Her smile hinted at sadness. “Of course, Eliot. Rest and take something for that back, yeah?” She rubbed between his shoulders. She knew he always stored a lot of stress there. Along with his lower back, it was going to be a long night.
“Yeah.” He didn’t bother to hide the limp as he headed for the door. He was too tired to pretend.
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Sophie watched Eliot limp through the door as Mr. Wilson approached her left. “What was all that about? Is Eliot okay?”
“He’s skipping the briefing. He’s okay. It’s just...” she looked up at Mr. Wilson’s concerned look. “On jobs with children involved, Eliot doesn’t take just physical hits.”
Parker appeared out of thin air as only Parker can. “This one hit him hard.”
Sophie ignored Mr. Wilson’s start. He’d get used to Parker’s quirks eventually. “It did, Parker. He needs to skip the briefing. He needs a break.”
Parker nodded and smiled. “I have just the thing.”
“Hardison is supposed to be home soon, isn’t he?” Sophie asked.
Parker smiled widely. “He is.” She frowned. “I don’t think there’s anything in Hardison’s binders about this particular situation. But he’ll know what to do. He always knows what to do.”
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Hardison walked into the theater and had just set his bags down when a blonde blur almost toppled him over.
He threw his arms around Parker. “Whoa, babe! What’s going on?”
“We had a rough job and now everyone is tired and I know Eliot is setting things up for everyone else to unwind.” The words rushed from her in one breath. “It was kids. And I knew you’d be home tonight and you’d know what to do.”
He held Parker closer and sighed. “Don’t worry, baby girl. We’ll take care of him.”
“I knew you’d know what to do. He was so quiet on the way home.” She touched her fingertips to the skin at the corners of Hardison’s eyes. “He’s all pinched here.”
Hardison sighed. “Yeah. He’s going to need to unwind after this one for sure. We got this, babe.”
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Eliot knew the team would need to unwind after this job. He also knew they each had their own methods.
First, Sophie. He set out the electric kettle, her favorite tea set, and tea, ready for her to relax and decompress. He also knew a nice, warm bath would help too. But that was just too intimate. That felt too much like betraying Nate.
On the landing, he laid out Paker’s favorite harness and checked all the straps and fastenings. It was ready for her to drop from the ceiling and scare the shit out of everyone. His back spasmed and he hoped Parker would have mercy on him at least.
Breanna and Harry were pretty easy. They preferred video games for whatever reason. He made sure the controllers were laid out. Plenty of batteries and snacks went on the coffee table to fuel their next battles.
He had enough real-life fights, thank you very much. If he were going to play video games, which he wasn’t, it would be something peaceful like Stardew Valley. “Thank you, Hardison, for showing me that one.” The homesteading aspect of the game was peaceful. He could have crops and animals. That reminded him; he needed to finish the mission to have his horse stable built. Travel would be much faster by horse than by foot.
As for him right now...he needed the kitchen. It was his peace. His safe space. The problem with that...deciding what to cook and what equipment he’d need. Sometimes setting the kitchen up was a pain. But it gave him more than enough peace of mind to make up for it.
He approached the kitchen and heard movements. No one should be there. Everyone should be at the briefing. Eliot approached the kitchen, ready to neutralize the threat.
Closer to the door now, voices filtered out. “After a rough job, he’ll want to bake. He needs the precision of it. No surprises or improvising.” Hardison was home.
Parker’s voice sounded tinged with annoyance. “No. Not that spatula, Harry.”
“What’s wrong with it? It’s a spatula.”
Eliot could almost hear the thief’s eyeroll. “But it isn’t a baking spatula, silly.”
She wasn’t wrong. He chuckled despite himself.
“Okaaay.” The lawyer drew the word out in confusion. "Of course he has a special baking spatula.”
He stepped into the kitchen to see Hardison running things like a Mastermind. “Sophie, I don’t know if he’ll want to bake cookies or a cake. Better set out the flour and the chocolate chips.”
“Flour and chips. Got it. What else?” Sophie set the ingredients aside.
“Gonna need some sugar, too.” Eliot crossed his arms and leaned against the door jamb. “And some softened butter.”
The team whipped around to face him. “Aw, you spoiled the surprise,” Parker pouted.
“Sorry Parker. But I heard voices in the kitchen so...”
Hardison grasped Eliot’s hand and pulled him into a hug. “Heard this was a rough one.” Then, quieter only for Eliot, he said, “You okay, bruh? You’re limping.”
“Yeah, man. Just some back pain. You know it acts up from time to time.”
Hardison pulled back to study Eliot’s face. “I know.” He smiled. “You got everyone else set up to relax?”
“What makes you say that?” He smiled at the hacker’s intuition. He had learned a lot over the years.
Parker drew his attention with a snort-laugh. “Because that’s what you always do, silly. You take care of us.”
Sophie put a hand on his arm. “This time we’re taking care of you, Eliot.”
Eliot looked around the kitchen at his friends. Breanna had her cheeks packed full. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “You had leftovers in the fridge, and it was the bomb last night so...”
Harry looked at her with a ‘what the heck’ look. Breanna shrugged. “I was hungry. Eliot throws down in the kitchen.”
Eliot laughed. “Thanks, Breanna. Everybody, I appreciate this. This really helps.”
Harry held up the stick of butter and shook it. “Microwave?”
Hardison laughed. “Microwave? You hear this man? The only reason Eliot even has a microwave in his kitchen is because I like to microwave popcorn for movie nights. Boil some water, pour it in a glass to heat it up. Then empty it and put the butter under the warm glass.”
“You were listening, weren’t you? Good job, man.” Eliot approved of Hardison’s newly acquired kitchen knowledge.
Hardison pulled an offended look. “How dare you? Of course I listen. I always listen I have you know. The nerve of this man thinking I don’t listen. In here getting this kitchen set up for him and this is the thanks I get.”
He grabbed the apron Breanna held out to him. “Now get outta here. I got baking to do.”