Fic: Face Value (2/3), Crossover Leverage/A:tS, PG-13

[elebridith]

Part One is here.

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!"


Part Two

Chicago, Team Leverage, headquarters

Eliot held Nate's scrutinizing gaze calmly until Nate finally blinked. "You want to... what?"

Eliot looked determined, even a little stubborn. "Ain't askin'. I'm getting Lindsey McDonald outta L.A.."

Nate nodded slowly, as if he had expected something like this. "And why now? Looks like he survived on his own pretty well, and Los Angeles is home ground for him."

Eliot shook his head. "No. He's on the firm's hit list now, and from what we've already seen from them, it won't be pretty. Or fast. And…" His voice trailed off and he looked away. He looks like me. Don't like someone dead who looks like me.

Nate studied him for a moment and then asked softly "And what?"

Eliot looked back at him, calm again. "Nothing. I leave tomorrow. Flight's already booked."

Nate looked worried for a moment and sighed. "Okay. I still don't like it, but we don't have a case right now, and it's not like I could stop you anyway, right?" Eliot flashed him a quick grin that Nate returned. Nate straightened. "And it won't hurt to have an insider. Just… be careful."

That last sentence took Eliot a bit by surprise. The fact that Nate felt the need to give a warning told him that Nate was more spooked by the whole affair than he had let on. But he didn't say anything, just began collecting a few things out of his desk that he would need for the trip. Hardison watched him a few seconds, and then threw a questioning glance at Nate. As he received a nod, he stood up. "I'm comin' with, Eliot."

That earned him a sharp look. "This is my business."

Hardison crossed his arms. "Uh-huh. And what if you need another access to the mainframe? Which is very likely. Think I'll let you borrow my laptop? Or tell you my hacker secrets? No way, boy. Besides - " he directed a wide cheerful grin at the other man - "if there really are monsters, I wanna see them."

Eliot closed his eyes. "That's why I still prefer to work alone", he muttered under his breath. He opened his eyes again. "You won't back off now if I tell you to, right?" Hardison grinned even wider and Eliot resigned. "Whatever. Just remember I ain't comin' to save your ass if that monster has pointy teeth and decides to eat you." He smirked. "Which is very likely."

Hardison slapped him on the shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know. When do we start?"

Eliot grinned inwardly, but kept a straight face. "Three thirty tomorrow. In the morning. Be on time or I'll go without you." Hardison's face fell. He opened his mouth to protest, but Eliot plastered a brilliant smile on his face which was maybe just a little smug. "Ain't no point wastin' time. If ya wanna make yourself useful, book yourself a seat an' rent us a car for Los Angeles."

Hardison shook off his stupor and nodded. "On it. Any special requirements?"

Eliot's smile turned grim. "A bulletproof one would be good."

Hardison swallowed and looked for a moment as if had second thoughts about the whole thing, but then straightened and nodded again. "I'll see what I can get."

***

Los Angeles, the next afternoon

Hardison pointed at a building across the street. "That one. That's the address." Eliot brought the rental car - which indeed was bulletproof- to a halt. He stared at the house for a moment, not saying anything. Hardison eyed him curiously. "So what now, man? I suppose you're gonna just go in there and kidnap him, right? Or do you have a convincing speech handy for how he should just -" he made air quotes - "'trust' us?"

Eliot exhaled slowly. "Somethin' like that, yeah. Guess I'm telling him about the files and if he doesn't get it, yeah, I just knock him out." He let out a short laugh that sounded unusually nervous. "This city? Gives me the creeps. Dunno why, it's just..." His voice trailed off and his jaw clenched visibly.

Hardison tried to laugh it off, but couldn't. A nervous Eliot Spencer wasn't something he saw very often, and he preferred not to remember the last two times he did. He had learned over the years to trust Eliot's gut feeling. And if he was honest with himself, he felt creeped out too. If this was a movie, we'd have the meaningful theme music now. The one where the monster just waits around the corner. "Yeah, I know what you mean, man." He looked out of the window again. "Oh." He nudged Eliot with an elbow and pointed to the building's door. "Eliot. There. He's leaving." He narrowed his eyes. "Is that a sword? Yeah, it's a sword, man, why is he carrying a sword? Did he see us? Do we have to - " He broke off at Eliot's exasperated glare.

"No, he didn't. Relax, okay?" Eliot got out of the car. "Let's go."

They followed McDonald around the block, carefully keeping out of sight. The ex-lawyer had dropped the clean-cut look - his hair was noticeably longer and he wore a slightly scruffy outfit. But his stride was confident, even a little cocky, and the way he carried his sword clearly showed that this was a very familiar weapon. Hardison was sure that he could even hear him whistle. Creepy. This town is creepy. Guy walks the street with a big bad-ass sword in hand and no one cares. He frowned. Come to think of it - hardly anyone's there. Everyone eaten by aliens already?

He was just about to step around the next street corner as Eliot's hand on his upper arm stopped him in his tracks. The hitter pulled him back out of sight, motioned to be quiet - yeah, really, Eliot, I know when to shut my big mouth - and pointed forward. "He's got company. You have any binoculars with ya?"

Hardison snorted, but kept his voice low. "Yeah, sure. I have a whole observation gear stuck in this little pocket here. Seriously, Eliot, this was supposed to be a grab-and-run, not a 'follow the big bad-ass sword', okay?" Eliot didn't say anything, just gave him that look of exasperation that he had more than perfected over the years. Hardison snorted again and peeked around the corner. McDonald now stood in front of a shabby building and talked to another man who wore a leather jacket and had a hat pulled deep over his eyes. A streetlamp lit up the scene a bit, but at the same time the man's hat produced a shadow that completely prevented them from seeing his face. Hardison sighed and stepped back. "You're so lucky I brought my camera with the nifty zoom lens, y'know that? Lucky. Threw it in the bag last moment."

"Good for you." Eliot's voice was gruff, but Hardison could easily detect Eliot's lips twitching with a small smile. He grinned back proudly and pulled the camera out, adjusted it and carefully moved towards the corner again. He tried to get a good look at McDonald's companion and frowned.

"Huh. That's weird." Hardison shook the camera as if he could re-adjust it somehow. He took a look up in the sky and frowned again. Looks like a rainstorm's coming up. It really shouldn't be that dark this time of the day. At Eliot's questioning look he shrugged, confused. "I know there's not much light and all, but I could swear his skin is - green." He raised his eyebrows and gave his voice a mocking tone. "You know, I'll just use the limited light compensator. Oh wait. I can't. Because no one's told me to bring it!"

Eliot completely ignored his bitching. "Green?" He gave Hardison an Are-you-fucking-crazy?-look and snatched the camera from him. He tried to get a good look at the guy next to Lindsey McDonald, who just at this moment decided to take his hat off. Eliot nearly dropped the camera. "What the fuck..." He raised it again, stared a little longer and finally handed it over to Hardison. "Look. Ya gonna like this. It keeps gettin' weirder. Let's get a little closer."

He pointed forward. They quickly stepped around the corner and behind a parked car that allowed them to hide. Still they had a better view of both men now who were still talking, obviously unaware of their followers. Hardison lifted the camera up. His jaw fell as he looked through it again. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He pointed weakly with his free hand. "He.. he has..." He motioned wildly as he put the camera down and stared at Eliot. Who, infuriatingly, just stared back, eyebrows raised, smirking. Yeah, you laugh. Is there anything that shakes you, man? Anything? He took up the camera and looked once more, but nothing had changed. "...horns," he weakly finished his sentence. I have a baaad feeling about this.

Eliot looked a tiny bit relieved. "Yeah. Red ones. And green skin. Thought for a moment I was seein' things." He eyed the two guys again without the glass and frowned. "Somethin'... ain't right."

Hardison lowered the camera and stared at his team mate, not believing his ears. He snorted and tried to sound sarcastic. "Ain't right, you say?" His voice was a little high-pitched, which would normally have induced some snarky comment from Eliot, but he didn't even seem to notice. Hardison shook his head. "Somehow I have a hunch that this guy is not a cosplayer. And in the real world? Green skin is only allowed if you're very very sick, man, and horns? Horns are never right, not outside of a computer screen!"

Eliot gave him an impatient look, then closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Hardison. Forget the horns for a second. Don't tell me you ain't seein' that the green guy is up to somethin'?" He expectantly looked at his partner. Hardison raised his eyebrows, feeling a little indignant.

"I can see that he's nervous, yeah."

Eliot nodded, looking slightly mollified. "An' whatever he's plannin', it's not good. They're talkin' for quite a while now, an' he completely avoids McDonald's eyes. An' look how he fidgets with his hands. He has plans that he ain't likin', maybe somethin' he's keeping from McDonald. He really doesn't wanna be here."

Hardison rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "But it looks like they're teaming up for something. You mean he's playing his own game? Trying to double-cross your clone?"

Eliot clenched his jaw. "He's not my... oh, forget it. I - look." He broke off the sentence and pointed at the odd pair who had started moving towards the door of the shabby building. Hardison couldn't stifle a small surprised sound as McDonald didn't bother to knock but simply readied his sword and kicked the door down. Hardison turned to Eliot who had merely raised an eyebrow at the sight and now nudged him.

"Let's go. I wanna see what he's up to." They waited until McDonald and his companion had entered the house, and then carefully moved towards the broken down door. Through the opening they could see that the green-skinned person stood with his back to the door. They slowly inched closer to the door frame and finally could glimpse into the room where Lindsey McDonald just stabbed some creature onto a door that lead further into the house. The force behind the movement caused it to crash down in the process. McDonald just stepped over the corpse, seemingly unimpressed, and walked into the next room, sword ready. Green Guy followed him, and Hardison had to agree with Eliot - for a team that had the upper hand here now, the green guy was way too tense.

Shouting and crashing sounds from the next room effectively covered up the tiny noises they made as they got inside and closer to the second door. Hardison got a good view of the stabbed corpse and decided immediately for the sake of his sanity not to look again. His stomach did a violent turnover and he inhaled slowly to keep it under control. Eliot grinned as he saw his team mate's face pale visibly. "You were the one who wanted to see monsters, remember?" he whispered. Hardison rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to kick him in the shins. Eliot barely threw a second glance at the body, already back in combat mode with all senses alert. He went towards the opening where the door had been and crouched down next to it to get out of sight. Already scanning the other room, he motioned for Hardison to stay behind him.

Hardison slipped behind Eliot, leaned forward and peeked inside. And wished he hadn't. He quickly closed his eyes. This isn't World of Warcraft, Alec. It's real. I can... smell the blood. Holy fuck. He bravely opened his eyes again and tried to ignore the smell and sounds by concentrating instead on the one person that was definitely human. McDonald's sword mastery was surprising - he moved swiftly through the creatures with an efficiency that reminded Hardison strongly of the fighting skills the man next to him displayed so often. Without really realizing it Hardison nodded admiringly and turned to Eliot. "Are you sure he needs our help, man? Looks like he can handle it without us!"

Eliot ignored the comment. He focused on the green-skinned guy who watched the fight nervously, at one time suddenly singing a tune ending in an extremely high-pitched note which caused the last two of the creatures to writhe in pain. McDonald gave the guy an appreciative nod, brought his sword down and the battle was over. McDonald and the green guy exchanged a few words Eliot could not quite understand, but one thing was clear: the fight was over, McDonald was now relaxed and satisfied with his work while the green guy looked visibly sick, definitely not happy about the victory and even more nervous than before. Eliot narrowed his eyes. Whatever he's planning, it's happening now. He checked the room again. McDonald, quite close to him, in the corner with the small basin. Green Guy, now taking a few steps back. Fuck, that's a weird angle. If he has a weapon, he's too far away to - He tensed up as he saw the little hand movement Green Guy made towards his pocket and knew.

"It's not about what I think."

Gun. Shit. He saw the green guy reach into his pocket, barely registered Hardison hiss "Eliot!", but he was already in motion. Get Lindsey down first. He darted forward into the room, leaping towards Lindsey, and a good old-fashioned body check was enough to bring them both out of the line of fire for now. Move. Draw the fire away from him and Hardison. Using his momentum, he let himself fall to the floor, rolled over twice and was fast on his feet again. He whirled around. The green guy had fired the gun two more times merely by reflex, but apparently hadn't hit anything but the wall. Eliot threw himself towards him, grabbed his gun hand and twisted it away from potential targets. As his free hand closed around Green Guy's throat, Eliot met his eyes and saw only shock in them. The guy froze.

"Drop it." Eliot's voice was calm and carried only a very small hint of menace. Green Guy didn't even try to struggle, he just opened his fingers and dropped the weapon. Eliot held his grip for a little longer, not sure yet if it was safe to let him go. But then he felt his opponent slump just slightly, and the pure shock in his red eyes now mixed with resignation. Eliot narrowed his eyes. He thinks I'm gonna kill him. And accepts it. Who the fuck tried to make this guy a killer? He let go of the guy and pushed him away just far enough to quickly pick up the gun and disarm it. Green Guy caught his balance, stared at him in utter amazement and then lifted his hands in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Lindsey. I'm so sorry. I know that you... I'm sorry." His voice was rough and pained. He took a few steps backwards to the door, and as Eliot didn't follow, turned around and fled, nearly knocking Hardison over on his way out.

Hardison looked after him, confused. "You... you're not gonna kick his ass?"

Eliot shook his head. "No. Let him go. He won't try anything else." He turned around to check on Lindsey and cursed under his breath as he saw him lying on the floor, not moving. He hurried over and knelt beside the limp body to check the pulse.

He could hear Hardison slowly coming towards him. "I, I think he's okay, man. Hit his head when you tackled him. I, uh, I'm gonna get the car, okay?" Hardison just waited for Eliot to nod and then hurried out of the room.

Eliot let out a relieved sigh as he found a steady pulse. He continued checking Lindsey's whole body and hissed angrily as he found a nasty graze on Lindsey's right arm, obviously caused by a ricocheted stray bullet. That was close. I think your luck for the next year's used up, Lindsey. Eliot carefully ran his fingertips over the big lump that had already formed where Lindsey's head had hit the wall. He nodded slowly. Concussion, but not too bad. He ripped a piece of cloth from Lindsey's shirt and provisionally bandaged the arm wound. He looked up as Hardison entered the room again. At his questioning look he explained "Looks like he's okay. Concussion, maybe. At least his head will hurt like a bitch for a few days, but he'll live. I've patched up his arm a bit, gotta do it properly later."

Hardison nodded. "No problem. First Aid kit's in the car." Then made the mistake to look around the room. He gulped heavily, looking like his stomach turned at the sight of the slaughter. He closed his eyes and shuddered.

Eliot searched Hardison's face, actually concerned. "Y'alright?"

Hardison shook his head. "No, not really. Just got reminded that you should be careful what you wish for. Whoever said that first, he was smart." He tried to crack a smile which was not really convincing. Eliot gave him an encouraging look.

"We're almost outta here. Take his sword, okay?" Hardison gave him a wide-eyed questioning look, but then shrugged and carefully picked the weapon up, crunching his nose in disgust. Eliot expertly lifted Lindsey's limp form in a fireman's carry over his shoulder and nodded to Hardison. "Let's go." They slowly walked out of the building and to the car, always checking for other threats. Eliot dropped Lindsey on the backseat and put him in a comfortable position while Hardison stored Lindsey's sword in the trunk and hid it under some bags. As he got back to the driver's door, Eliot casually looked up to the sky and inhaled sharply at the sight. "Hardison! Hurry! We gotta leave, NOW!"

Hardison frowned. "Cool it, man, why so busy now?" Eliot pointed to the sky. Hardison glanced upwards and gaped. "Oh shit. Hit the road, man, and I really don't mind speeding now. I'll even pay the ticket…"

Rain started to fall heavy now. The sky was dark with thick clouds which whirled in very unnatural movements and grew stranger in color every second. Thunder was rolling in the distance and then lightning ripped the sky. And then Eliot caught sight of something in the sky, something that didn't belong there. At all. He gasped and stared, not believing his eyes, and actually needed a few seconds to shake off his stupor. Hardison seemed to have lost his voice; he was just pointing, open-mouthed. Eliot grabbed him and pushed him towards the passenger door. He waited a little bit to make sure that Hardison really got inside and then jumped on the driver's seat.

As he reached for the key, Hardison put a hand on his arm. His voice was shaky, but he seemed to have pulled himself together. "Don't know 'bout you, man, but no way I'm gonna go up in the sky now. Not with... that thing up there. Not on."

Eliot started the car. "Agreed," he said grimly. "At least not from here. Let's hit the road, then we'll see. Or do ya have some geek device where ya can control a dragon?" Hardison just answered with a shaky laugh and Eliot gave him a grin while he stepped on the pedal. Tires screeched and then they were on their way, fleeing the city of angels.

***

Lindsey stirred, moaned at the sharp pain that went through his head and opened his eyes. Where am I? He blinked a few times, reached for the back of his head and hissed as his fingers found the bruise. "What the..." He slowly pushed himself up a bit to look out of the window. Car. Not in L.A. anymore. What the hell happened? Then he remembered. His eyes flew wide open and he tried to sit up. "What the fuck…" The movement proved to be too fast. Lindsey drew a sharp breath and pressed his hands to his temples as another wave of pain hit him. "Ouch. Shit." He closed his eyes again for a moment and took deep breaths. A fairly sympathetic voice made him open his eyes again.

"Easy, man, easy. You got quite a blow on the head, so just move slowly, okay? Water?"

Lindsey narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at the offered bottle. He couldn't see the driver's face yet, but the man on the passenger seat who offered the water was definitely familiar. He searched his hazy brain for a name, but couldn't get his thoughts together, not with his vision swimming out of focus again and again. Finally he shrugged inwardly and took the bottle. If they wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already. After a few sips his vision cleared. He took a closer look at his companions and now caught the driver's face in the rear mirror. His eyes widened again and it took the rest of his self control not to let his jaw drop. "I don't believe it. You?"

Spencer just grinned. The other man - Hardison, his name was Hardison - chuckled. "Team Hardison/Spencer to the rescue. We fight demons and dragons, if necessary."

Lindsey shook his head and winced as that action gave him another wave of nausea. He took another swig from the water bottle. "What… what happened? I took out the Sahrvins and was just… oh God." His face went white with shock as the last missing memory hit. He gasped for air and dropped the bottle, sloshing a good part of its content over his legs before he somehow managed to grab it again. No. Fuck no. Lorne... Angel's plan? He fuckin' planned to kill me all along? He didn't realize that he was breathing far too fast and shallow until he could hear Hardison's voice again, like coming from very far away.

"Eliot, stop the car, I think we need a break. Hey man, c'mon. Deep breaths. In, out. Good. Don't need you hyperventilating and passing out again, okay?"

Lindsey inhaled slowly and tried to control his shaking hands. He blinked a few times until the white spots he had been seeing finally faded out. He took a few more deep breaths and then could see Hardison's concerned face clearly now. He gave him an uneasy smile. "I'm ... good, thanks." His voice still shook though, and he could see that neither Hardison nor Spencer were convinced. He leaned back, closed his eyes and replayed the last minutes he could remember in his head. "He… he wanted to shoot me," he said quietly, more to himself. "He said… Angel, you goddamn fucking bastard!" A wave of anger at his enemy boiled up and pushed the dizziness away for a moment.

"I think we need to talk. Let's get off the road." Spencer looked ahead, searched the area and took the next opportunity for a stop. He switched off the engine and got out of the car. Wordlessly, he opened the backseat door, first aid kit already in hand. He motioned to Lindsey to roll up his sleeve and began cleaning and bandaging the arm wound Lindsey hadn't even realized he had. After he put on a new bandage, he sat down on the edge of the backseat and took a good look at Lindsey's face. "I'd really like to hear your story, you know. But first - how's your head? I'm pretty sure you have a concussion, you still don't focus properly. Need some painkillers?"

Lindsey blinked. Not sure if I trust you enough to give me pills, Spencer. Shouldn't have taken the water either, but that seems to be clean. "No, thanks. I've had worse, I'll be okay."

Spencer examined his face closer and nodded. "Just say something if it gets worse and we'll pull over if we need to, okay?"

Lindsey felt a little clearer now. He nodded and now looked directly in Spencer's eyes. "How did you find me? And don't think I ain't grateful, 'cause I am, really, but - why? Why rescue me? That hotel room three years ago, that wasn't exactly the beginning of, y'know, a beautiful friendship!"

Spencer returned the look, very earnest. "Hardison found you. You could say your firm offered you up on a silver platter. And why?" He gave Lindsey a wide smile that was just a touch ironic. "You know - I really would hate to see a body in the morgue that has a face that looks like mine."

Lindsey stared at him, opened his mouth and closed it again. He felt a flash of shame as he recognized his own words and he lowered his gaze. His cheeks flushed a bit. That sounds nice, Eliot, but it's not the whole story. What do you want from me? What's the deal? God, I wish my head would stop throbbing so I can think.

Eliot gave him a moment and then continued. "So - green guy? With horns?"

Lindsey coughed and took another sip of water. "Long story. To cut it short - there's an apocalypse coming. Angel was named one of the good guys and I - " He let out a cynical little laugh. "I wanted to help. For once in my life, I wanted to be on the right side. Still didn't like him, yeah, but I wanted to sort that shit out later if we both survived." He fell silent.

Hardison twisted a bit on his passenger seat to get a better look at the two men. He frowned and rubbed his chin. "You mean..." He paused and then slammed his hand down on on his seat, looking angry. "You wanted to help and he tried to shoot you."

Lindsey looked up, confused, and then smiled involuntarily as he got Hardison's mistake. "Not exactly. That green guy? That's not Angel, that was Lorne. One of his lackeys. Angel is - was - whatever - the CEO of Wolfram and Hart. A souled vampire, by the way." A bitter tone crept into his voice. "Not someone who gives people like me the honor of being killed personally, as it turns out. Never trusted me, and…" He made a disgusted sound which held a good deal of self contempt. "He really had no reason to, to be fair. Except this time, I really…" A wave of exhaustion washed over him. Lindsey's voice trailed off and he half-closed his eyes.

Hardison looked fazed and mouthed "Vampire…?" before grinning a little too wide and too forced. "Vampire, huh? Did he sparkle or more like Nosferatu?"

"Hardison." The word sounded as if Eliot had spoken it through gritted teeth, and as Lindsey glanced at his face he could tell that this was not far from the truth. He had to grin involuntarily as Hardison immediately backed down, looking a little embarrassed.

"Right. Uh, sorry. Bad time. Yeah. Shutting up now."

Eliot ignored him and focused on Lindsey. "Right. I'm sure we'll hear the longer version of this some time. Question is - what do you wanna do now? Apart from needin' to lie down again 'cause you're sporting a concussion."

Lindsey snorted, feeling more and more resigned but tried not to let it show. "If I want to continue my - " He gave his voice a mocking tone. " - 'noble path to redemption' as the fuckin' Powers That Be would call it..." He shrugged with a sarcastic smile. "I should go back, face the music and get myself killed in the apocalypse. If I'm lucky, I take some bad guys with me."

Eliot gave him a wry look. "More like this Angel guy stabs you in the back again when he sees you're still alive and kickin'. Not much of a redemption if you never even make it to the fight. Your choice though man. I'll turn the car around if you want to…"

Lindsey let his smile shift to grim. You guys have no fuckin' clue here. He sneered. "What other choice do I have?" You have a second-hand soul ready? No chance of gettin' mine back he added mentally, not wanting to go there here and now.

Hardison and Eliot exchanged a look, and then both men grinned. Hardison gave Lindsey his widest smile. "You know - there's this bunch of really weird people. Basically bad guys doing Robin Hood stuff for kicks. Doing justice by breaking the law and all that shit. You, boy…" He tilted his head and eyed Lindsey up and down. "A sword master, and since you were a lawyer, smart - you would just fit right in. Sounds good?"

Lindsey blinked and tried to process Hardison's words, but felt too drained. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus again. "Okay, I'm not really keen on dyin' here. But what... where..."

Eliot interrupted. "Chicago. An' since we ain't takin' any plane as long as you can't even stand on your own two feet, we have a little more than a thirty hours drive in front of us." Eliot stood up and gave Lindsey a sharp look. "Means you're gonna lie down and try to sleep for a bit. Time for explanations later."

Part Three is here.