Fic: Face Value (1/3), Crossover Leverage/A:tS, PG-13
The original Face Value story was written after only a few episodes had aired. Now, two seasons later, it became very obvious that - naturally - it has flaws in characterizations, voicing and writing style. So I decided for the sake of continuity to let my awesome beta havenward at it again.
Title: Face Value
Author: elebridith
Rating: PG-13, some swearwords
Disclaimer: Not mine. Nothing, no one. Just playing.
Genre: Slash, Crossover with Angel the series
Pairing/Characters: No pairing yet. Lindsey McDonald, Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison; cameos by Nathan Ford and Lilah Morgan.
Summary: The words became stuck in his throat and his eyes widened with shock as the black-dressed man turned around and the camera caught his face. Lindsey's jaw dropped. "Holy shit!"
Original beta on part one and two by luminous_mortal
A/N: Part One happens during A:tS' "Dead End" - Lindsey has his new hand already, but has not discovered its "evilness" yet. Team Leverage started working together about the same time as A:tS season two starts. It obviously goes AU, but the events of Leverage season one and two happen as we've seen on TV, with the only change that they never left Chicago. Simple reason for that - if they'd moved to L.A., they would've clashed with Wolfram & Hart sooner or later and I wouldn't have a story.:-)
Masterpost for the rest of the verse is here.
Banner by charlies_dragon
Prologue
Chicago
Nate Ford looked up from his files. "We need a retrieval."
Eliot Spencer nodded. He took off his glasses and began polishing them. "What is it?"
"Not what. Who."
Eliot nodded slowly. "Ah. That witness you talked about earlier, right? Where?"
Nate pointed to a plane ticket. "Los Angeles."
Eliot put his glasses back on and smiled. "Consider it done."
Nate smiled back and started to plot out his further plans.
Part One
Los Angeles, Wolfram & Hart
Lilah Morgan entered the office with a force that was just short of bursting in. "Lindsey, what the hell did you think you were doing?"
Lindsey looked up, giving her a long-cultivated look of polite disinterest. "Lilah. And what have I done this time to get you so… agitated?"
Lilah stared at him, fuming. "Seriously, Lindsey? Did you really think that wearing a wig would be enough to conceal you from us? And I really didn't know that you were hiding a body that good under those suits!" As soon as the last sentence had slipped out, she bit her tongue and blushed. I did NOT say that aloud, right? But Lindsey's amused expression told her otherwise. She drew a deep breath and slammed a security tape on Lindsey's desk. "Where were you last night? Around eight?"
Lindsey looked bored. "Lilah - I was here. If you had bothered to check our security camera tapes before your grand entrance here, you would know that I left this building at ten fifteen."
Lilah opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to cover up her embarrassment. "I…" She really hadn't bothered to check, not with what she had seen on the tape. She searched for the right words, for a defense, but Lindsey cut her off.
"Anything else? I really have work to do, Lilah."
She took a deep breath and purposefully made an annoyed expression. "Lindsey - you have to see this." She tapped on the tape. "You… we… might get in trouble for this if your alibi is not bulletproof."
Lindsey closed the file he'd been working on. He looked up, eyebrows lifted and a small sarcastic smile curling his lips. "Lilah, I'm really touched by your concern. Really." He sighed dramatically. "All right then. What is it?"
Lilah put the tape into the player and prepared the monitor. "Yesterday Reed decided that one of our… off the books-clients really needed a reminder that we're watching him. He deemed it less important and so he used a human squad. And now, look what happened." She pressed the button and the screen came to life.
Lindsey recognized the "client"- one of those unlucky bastards who had mingled with the firm's business purely by coincidence - and the faces of the human thugs who were approaching their victim like hyenas. Nothing unusual so far. "Now watch closely, it's very fast." Lilah turned up the volume. Beneath the crackle of static they could hear a smooth confident voice.
"You're gettin' in the way of my job here."
Lindsey frowned. That voice sounded… familiar. No, can't be. Bad audio, that's all. He leaned forward, but the action that followed onscreen was kind of blurred. All he could see was a person dressed in black who approached the five thugs and, in a whirl of motion, took them out with the fastest and most precise combat movements Lindsey had ever seen. That guy is good. Looks human, moves like a human - even more impressive. He shook his head in awe, not taking his eyes away from the screen. It took only a few seconds, and all five thugs were on the ground, not moving. Lindsey rubbed his chin, thoughtful. "All right Lilah, this is impressive, I'll give you that. But what has this to do with…" The words became stuck in his throat and his eyes widened with shock as the black-dressed man turned around and the camera caught his face. Lindsey's jaw dropped. "Holy shit!"
Lilah gave him a smug grin. "You could say that, yes. I take it that it's really not you, is it?"
Lindsey hit the freeze-frame button and stared at his own face on the monitor. The picture was black and white, but there was no mistaking it. The resemblance was stunning. The only differences seemed to be the hair length and the beard stubble, and as far as he could tell, the guy had about three times more muscle on him. He even radiated the same air of confidence that Lindsey had when he was in court. He pressed "Play" again to watch the rest. It wasn't much - the guy just said "Ready to go?" to the "client", who stared in shock for a few moments and then both men moved out of sight.
Lindsey tried to clear his thoughts. He looked up at Lilah. "Did he kill them?"
Lilah shook her head. "No. But they won't be able to work for a very long time."
Lindsey closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. This had trouble written all over it. It was bad enough that the "client" was gone, but having a double of himself out there… He knew his alibi was bulletproof, but you never knew what got you on the radar of the Senior Partners, and a thing like this just might be it. He looked up again. "As far as I know, I don't have any relatives that look like me. So who is this guy?"
Lilah shrugged. "No idea. But you really should pay him a visit, don't you think?"
*****
It had only taken a few hours of work for some of the company spies to come up with the doppelganger's name, reputation and current location - the order "Find someone who looks like Lindsey McDonald" proved to be successful. Lindsey now stood in front of a door and took a few deep breaths, putting on an air of confidence before finally knocking. The intercom buzzed and a sharp "Yeah?" came out of it. Lindsey answered with his best cocksure lawyer voice. "Mr. Spencer? My name is Lindsey McDonald; I work for Wolfram and Hart. Would you please open the door?"
An amused dry laugh was the answer. "Don't know you, ain't interested."
A sharp crackle told Lindsey that the intercom had been turned off again. He almost rolled his eyes. This reaction was exactly what he had expected. He knocked again, more forceful. The com buzzed again.
"Still wastin' your time?"
Lindsey grinned humorlessly. "Mr. Spencer, I represent a law firm and we have proof that you have abducted one of our clients. We have to talk. Now please open the door, or I'll have to take legal action." He waited, and then heard footsteps approaching and the key turning. The door swung open and a very familiar voice said: "Listen, buddy, I really don't got the time - " Then the man caught sight of Lindsey's face and broke off abruptly, eyes behind steel-rimmed glasses widening.
Lindsey smirked and moved towards him. "I think you understand now that we have a ... situation." He took a step forward and tried to push himself past Spencer.
The other man regained his self-control quickly. His flat hand landed heavily on Lindsey's chest, accompanied by a glare that stopped Lindsey effectively in his tracks. Spencer half-turned his head, but never took his eyes off Lindsey's face. "Hardison? We need the bug scanner."
"Just a sec." The answer came from the other room, and then a tall black man showed up on the doorstep, holding a scanner device. Lindsey frowned. The reports he had read just hours ago hadn't mentioned a companion - on the contrary, actually. They all agreed that Spencer was some kind of lone wolf. He filed that information away for later use. The man Spencer had called Hardison tugged at his scarf and grinned widely. "Oh, we've got company. How n..." He broke off the sentence and his eyes nearly bugged out as he saw Lindsey's face. "Oh no, Eliot, you've got a clone! You never told me that you're a Mandalorian!"
Spencer gave him an impatient glance. "Funny. Just scan him already, wouldja?" Hardison grinned and quickly did as he was told. With a triumphant grin he grabbed Lindsey's briefcase and, ignoring the protest, opened it and dug out a small device.
"Gotcha, baby." He examined the bug and then spoke directly into it. "Hello and goodbye. Would you like some tea on your way out?" He walked over to the nearest table and took a full mug from it, dropped the device into it and turned back to Lindsey. "Now we can talk."
Lindsey stared at the mug and started to laugh. The mental image of Lilah's face turning all red and furious now was just too good.
Spencer still watched him closely, but his lips twitched a little. He turned to his team mate. "Hardison. That was my Darjeeling tea." He gave the other man a furious glare, although Lindsey had the feeling that it was mostly for show.
Hardison grinned smugly. "Sorry man. Couldn't resist."
Spencer shook his head sharply, the small trace of amusement gone. "Shut up, Hardison. Is he alone?" He threw a pointed glance at Lindsey and huffed impatiently.
Hardison rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he is. Don't insult me, man." He retreated to the back of the room and casually leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. Spencer turned around, took another good look at Lindsey's face and shook his head, looking astonished for just a split second.
"I know we're not related. Still. Unbelievable."
Lindsey took a few moments to study the face before him. Eliot Spencer seemed to be a few years older, had longer hair and beard stubble, but the only really remarkable differences now were the glasses and a small old scar on his upper lip. He could only admire the man's self control - being confronted out of the blue with a mirror image had so far only produced a moment of surprise and now a raised eyebrow. Lindsey snapped back into the conversation and straightened. "Can we get to business now?" He felt Hardison watching his every move, and was fairly sure that Spencer would knock him out in a split second if feeling threatened, so he chose his words very carefully. "You took out five of our men. It was pretty impressive, I have to say. But sadly, the man you abducted was one of our clients. And my superiors are not happy about him being gone."
Spencer tilted his head and gave him a brilliant innocent smile that contrasted sharply to the cold alert expression in his eyes. "Sorry, can't help you there. Your client's already outta town and we don't know where he is."
Lindsey clenched his jaw at the mocking tone of voice and swore silently to himself. These guys were good - and fast. He looked into Spencer's eyes and plastered a big courtroom smile on his face - the kind that showed a lot of teeth just on this side of threatening but did not reach his eyes. "Then let me give you one piece of advice. You have interfered with the firm's business. Not many people do that and live to tell the tale." As soon as the words had left his mouth, Lindsey knew that had gone too far. He didn't even see Spencer moving. He suddenly just couldn't breathe properly anymore and found himself slammed into the wall with a strong hand gripping his throat. Spencer's voice almost purred.
"You've seen what I can do, right? Think that's wise?" Spencer released his grip and stepped back. "Get out."
Lindsey barely managed to keep his confident expression. He instinctively raised his hand up to his throat to massage it, but changed the movement at the last second and just adjusted his collar. Judging by the tiny curl of Spencer's lips, Lindsey knew that he hadn't fooled him. Whoever wrote that file on Eliot Spencer, he was wrong. Guy's a lot smarter than he looks. Lindsey straightened and smiled coldly. "I think I can. You don't know what you're dealing with here. You should consider yourself fortunate that those thugs were only human. This time."
Hardison snorted out a laugh and grinned at Lindsey. "C'mon, man. Telling us ghost stories here? Try something else to scare us."
Spencer did not look amused. He threw an impatient glare at his partner and then searched Lindsey's face, disbelief and annoyance clearly showing. Lindsey didn't reply to Hardison's mocking question, he just looked at them with a very small, very confident smile. Spencer seemed to be convinced now. His eyes narrowed. "You're serious." Lindsey widened his smile just a little to verify that statement.
Hardison gave another short laugh. "This is ridiculous, man. What are we talkin' here? Monsters? Godzilla? Oh, I know. Dracula! Uuuh, I'm really scared now!"
"Shut up, Hardison." The other man finally reacted to Spencer's harsh tone, chuckled a bit and returned to the other room. Spencer's gaze was still fixed on Lindsey's face, and then he nodded. "Alright. Y'ain't gettin' your client back. Too late for that. But we're leavin' town. Today."
Lindsey smiled coldly. The files may have been wrong about the working alone part, but Lindsey was very sure that they were right about the fact that you could trust Spencer's word. "Very well." Lindsey picked up his briefcase and reached for the door. He stepped out, then stopped and turned back, looking Spencer directly in the eyes again. "This is a very wise decision, Mr. Spencer. I really would hate to find a body in our morgue that has a face that looks like mine. Travel safely." He caught a glimpse of annoyance on Spencer's face at his sarcastic tone and widened his smile. He nodded curtly, closed the door behind him and made his way to his car.
Chicago Interludes
Four weeks later
Eliot slammed his hands on the table. "What do y'mean, 'disappeared'?"
Hardison sighed at the accusing tone. "As in 'gone', Eliot. Not listed as a resident of L.A. anymore. Left town shortly after we met him, bounced around Oklahoma and Texas, showed up in Japan. Covered his tracks pretty well, gotta say. Last appearance was somewhere around Nepal. Then - zero."
Eliot leaned back and frowned. "Well if that ain't a fast exit. And the firm?"
"Still business as usual. And man, they are really creepy."
Nate interrupted. "Still, they threatened us. Very openly. I want to keep an eye on them. I don't like surprises."
Hardison shrugged. "As you wish, boss."
***
Six months later
Nate opened the door to Hardison's office. "Did you get the status on Wolfram and Hart yet?"
Hardison nodded. "Yup. Still doing creepy business, boss. But they're ignoring us so far."
Nate looked satisfied. "Good. And stop calling me boss."
***
Eleven months later
"Ummm, folks? Remember I said 'creepy' last year? Scratch that and make it straight up 'disturbing'. You wanna see 'creepy'?" Hardison pointed at his computer screen.
Nate's jaw dropped and Eliot's eyes widened. "Holy fuck - is that..."
Hardison nodded. "Yup. Raining fire and brimstone. The sun is blacked out, and if that isn't some bad special effects monster, I'll eat my scarf. Looks like a Roland Emmerich movie. I bet it sucks being in L.A. these days..."
***
Almost sixteen months later
"Hey, Eliot? Remember that clone of yours from three years ago?" Eliot glared daggers at Hardison, but decided not to comment. The hacker smirked, patted his computer lovingly and went on. "My doggie here has learned a few new tricks - and guess who's back in town!"
Eliot looked at the monitor and raised his eyebrows. "Lindsey McDonald. I'll be damned. What put him on your radar?"
The hacker grinned proudly. "I left some crawlers in Wolfram and Hart's mainframe computer last time I checked. Apparently they have a new CEO, by the way. And now some red flags came up." Hardison looked pointedly questioning at Eliot, who gestured with one hand impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah, techno babble. Get to the point already."
Hardison grinned mischievously as if he thought about elaborating his explanation just to raise his teammate's hackles a bit, but turned serious again at Eliot's glare. "He was listed as "missing, but still in contract" but now he's pretty much marked as "really pissed us off"." He opened up a sub file and let out a whistle. "And look at that. Phone number, street address, all that jazz. Only thing that's missing is how the man takes his coffee." Hardison shook his head with with an overly sad and offended expression. "Little more of that an' I'm out of a job here. I'm supposed to be doing all that nifty hacker stuff that none of you can, not just clicking on a file and -"
"Wait." Eliot sharply cut Hardison's rambling off. He stared at the screen, frowning. "Jus' a second. I ain't questionin' your computer skills, but - " He broke off and rubbed his chin, thinking. This is familiar. He pointed at the screen. "Was it just his or can you access others also? That easy, I mean."
Hardison started to look offended, but then obviously recognized the slightly urgent tone of Eliot's voice. He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. "Let me see." He went back to his keyboard. Minutes later he looked up, face serious now. "Yeah, it's interesting. His is just a sub file in a bigger main one, and I can access them all. The others in there are the, well, let's call them Potential Threats. People who screwed with the firm one way or another."
Eliot narrowed his eyes, an uneasy feeling starting to settle in his stomach. "Let me have a look." He went quickly through some files, read names and skimmed through descriptions and remarks. He balled his fists as his suspicion was confirmed. "It's a hit list."
Hardison's eyes widened. "Whoa, what?"
Eliot's face went hard. "I've seen that before. Mafia, the Triad - they keep lists an' hand them out to people who owe them favors."
Hardison exhaled slowly and nodded, understanding. "And let them do the dirty work. Keeps the firm clean."
Eliot nodded, jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, thoughts racing. A death list. I wonder what he did to get marked. He could be dead in a few days. Could be dead now. He shuddered. I really don't like that idea. Sure, he's an arrogant little bastard, but… does he deserve that? His lips curled into a sarcastic smile. Or is it just too close to home. Getting superstitious here, Eliot? He made his decision and abruptly stood up. "I'll get him out of there."
Hardison blinked. "Whoa, whoa, easy, man, he's a bad guy, remember?"
Eliot snorted. "So are we, Hardison, if ya remember. And now he's on a hit list, as we are, maybe. He's an enemy, means technically on our side. And that's a story I really would like to hear." He made his way to the door. "Nate? Need to talk to you!"
Part Two is here.