Fanfic: Avengers / Leverage Crossover (Part Five)
Thieves, Spies, and Accidental Allies Masterpost
Natasha had been the first target of the blue weapons, and had it had been anyone else she was pretty confident that they wouldn't have gotten out of the way in time. Even then, she was impressed with Mason's quick thinking in grabbing Pepper - they were the only two still out in the open and were clearly where the second blast was going to go. Natasha had been convinced that she was going to have to explain to Tony Stark why his girlfriend was dead.
But that wasn't her biggest fear anymore. No. It wasn't for the people that were wielding what Steve had called Hydra weapons before, either. Sure, they were large and menacing and the weapons were terrifying, but they looked like they were normal people, acting under the influence of the Tessaract again. She could recognize that glassy look in their eyes anywhere. But no, that was not her fear.
Steve had just flipped over the table to protect Alice and Cassandra and was doing an admirable job of making the blasts not get their intended target. He, however, was missing the biggest threat.
She launched herself back behind the table to the far end and came beside a Bruce that had his eyes clenched shut and was breathing heavily, crouched on all fours. Her mind flashed to the helicarrier, and while she knew that he had better control now and that he was doing so much better, this was still not the best time to let the other guy loose. There were civilians all around, and even politically it could be catastrophic for him - never mind the fact that she still didn't know what Cassandra and the Hacker were up to.
"Bruce," she said calmly, curling one leg beneath her. He didn't respond. "Bruce, I'm going to touch you on the shoulder," she warned him, and then followed through. She had lost track of where Cassandra and Steve had gone, but she had seen Alice run across an opening a moment before, waiting for the moment of calm just after a blast. Good. All of her previous misgivings about the girl were gone and she was just thankful she could take care of Pepper and Mason. "Bruce," she repeated again, softly and calmly, despite the screaming and explosions around them. "Sit down. You're okay."
He was still breathing heavily, but he let her guide him into a sitting position, his eyes still clenched shut. "Bruce," she said again, hoping that he would anchor himself to his name. "Look at me. Open your eyes."
Her hand was still on his shoulder and she wrapped it around his neck at the back. "I'm right here, Bruce, open your eyes." When he finally did she could see the fear deep inside of them, but his breathing had begun to even out. She stared him right in the eye, even leaning forward into him. "I'm not leaving you, Bruce, you can do this."
They stared at each other, a single vision of quiet and still in the middle of chaos and he nodded, even cracking a bit of a smile. "Let's get out of here, shall we?" he asked, just as if he was bored at dinner, and she smiled.
"Yeah." She looked around quickly and located Cassandra a few tables back. She had made her way to where some other customers had gotten hurt, and Steve was finding as many serving trays he could to throw at the men, and she could see that he was severely missing his shield. "Can you get to Cassandra?" she asked him and he nodded. "Good. Get them out of here, and then you get away from the excitement, okay?"
He barely nodded before he was gone, reaching Cassandra and the hurt civilians, and pulling them to safety.
She turned back to the fight, and after seeing that Steve had already knocked out four of the men on his own, their spears rolling around useless on the ground, she chased after the six that had their sights on Pepper.
Her widow's bite wasn't much use against the protective suits, and she had to be careful not to touch the spears when fighting, but they were slow moving under the force of the Tesseract and she was inside the range of the explosive powers of the spears. Three had taken her on, and the remaining three continued around the corner, where she didn't see what happened to them. It didn't take her long to get three good punches to the head, and by then Steve had taken care of his remaining two.
It was just as she had taken a protective glove to trap a spear that was starting to roll away did she hear the familiar sound of Tony's suit flying through the air. He made a loop through the courtyard around the corner that most of the civilians had made their way to, and landed beside her.
His face shield popped up as he comically looked around at the mayhem. "What, you couldn't save some for me?"
***
Sophie had been giving Eliot instructions in his ear the whole time: how the weapons seemed to work, how to incapacitate the goons, and when there was going to be a new bunch of people coming around the corner that needed rescuing. He had just taken out two of the operators when Iron Man himself seemed to stop briefly at the top of one of the buildings surrounding the courtyard, and then flew around a few times before rounding the corner out of site.
Eliot had backed the third man up against the boarded up shop at the far side of the courtyard when he realised his mistake. One of the wounded women from the plaza had taken refuge there, behind that concrete bench. The man raised the spear and while he was too close to his target to use the jet stream of blue... whatever that was... the spear itself could still do a lot of harm...
Eliot saw no choice. The only way to stop the spear from coming down on the already wounded woman was to get in the way of the spear itself. He was about to make his move...
And then an arrow pierced through the man's protective gear, missing his flesh, but pinning him to the plywood behind him. Eliot didn't waste time, then, looking for the sniper that he knew he wouldn't be able to see, and took his opportunity, crashing the man's head against the wall behind, and watching him collapse.
The battle was done and he spied Hardison, Parker, and Sophie walking to an ambulance that had finally arrived. He overheard Pepper say to Sophie to take care of themselves tonight and to come back to Stark Tower in the morning, and Sophie agree.
Some of the people in hiding were starting to come back out, now, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone came looking for the final weapon and bad guy. "Sophie," he muttered while turning and walking away from the rubble. "I gotta go check on something. I'll see you back at the hotel later tonight."
***
Eliot looked in the reflection of the glass at street level, checking the positions of the people around him. He barely needed to think about it anymore. He just did it. Always checking, always careful. This time however, he wanted to be seen.
He kept his earbud in until he knew that everyone was okay, but he needed quiet in his head for a few minutes. He didn't mention it to the team, but he swore that he’d recognized something from the battle. He didn't want to mention it to them yet, not when he wasn't sure...
He grunted to himself. Of course he was sure. There was no one else that could have hit that target from that far away. Only him.
Eliot's hair brushed in front of his face and normally he liked it. It hid him from the people that he was trying to avoid, the co-workers-turned-enemies when he left them behind. But today, he needed to be seen. He needed his attention.
He brushed his hair out from in front of his face and looked towards the sky, scanning the roof tops and windows. He didn't expect to see him. He never did. But still, he hoped he was there.
He had walked to the other side of Manhattan where the people weren't cowering inside or hiding from the unknown assailants, and he finally found a good spot.
Eliot entered the dark bar and aimed his seat at the door hoping that the adjustment from the bright outdoors to the dark bar could give him a millisecond of advantage, if it was needed. Instead, the shape came from behind, and nimbly sat in the seat at the end of the table - the one with clear sightlines of the entire bar and the two exits. Dammit. He didn't expect him to come through the kitchen. Still, the other seat was harder to get out of, so he still felt like made the better choice.
The man sat perfectly still and their eyes bore into each other, each examining the other man, noticing each other's taunt muscles and hidden weapons. Finally Eliot blinked. If the other man wanted him dead, it wasn't going to be from close combat.
"Clint."
"Eliot."
Eliot nodded and signalled for the bartender who deposited two beer bottles on the table, which Clint immediately grabbed. "There's not many people who can say that they've had a beer with Eliot Spencer," Clint said casually. "Especially ones with our type of history."
"A lot more now than before, Barton."
The other man barely blinked, but pulled from his beer anyway, and Eliot knew that he would be the one that would have to speak first. Barton was just like that. He watched and waited for whatever was needed to come to him. "You were in the battle," Eliot said finally. "The one that destroyed New York."
Eliot was baiting Barton, and he could see that Barton knew it, still, he played along. "The one that saved New York. Probably a lot more, too."
Eliot was getting tired of this. This was the game for Nate and Sophie. He hated the veiled threats and plays on words. He just wanted to get answers to his questions - but he actually hadn't asked any questions yet. The others didn't know he was here... so what did he want to know?
"A lot of people think that we never would have gotten attacked in the first place if we hadn't demonstrated the ability to fight back," Eliot finally stammered through, copying what he once heard Hardison go on length about. "Super soldiers, Tony's suit... The Hulk."
Eliot examined Barton as he said those words, and he noticed the tiniest bit of a reaction, but he really didn't know how to interpret it. Dammit. He needed Sophie for this... but there was no way he would put her in this kind of harm's way.
While he was debating what to say next in his head, Barton initiated the conversation for the first time. "I saw you fight those guys before, with the spears. You were good."
"Yeah, well, couldn't let them go and hurt innocent people."
"Really? You're concerned about innocence?"
He could feel his body tensing and he could see that Barton could tell he was reacting. "Things've changed. I don't do that anymore, you get that? I'm in the business of helping people now. I know you get that."
"Yeah, well, forgive me if we're still a little wary." He paused to take another sip of his beer. "Why are you here, Spencer?"
Eliot finally sat back. "Got a job here. Have a client who was screwed by someone more powerful than him, and I'm trying to make it right."
Barton was studying him - he could feel it. He was content to wait it out, but then something that Barton said struck him. "If we're a little wary?" he quoted. "Who's we?"
Clint was silent, and Eliot could almost see the frustration on his face for letting something out that he shouldn't have, and things started to fall into place. "You're working for SHIELD again, aren't you?"
Barton cracked a smile. "Sometimes. When it suits me."
"And when it doesn't?"
"Whoever's the group of people that are doing the most amount of good."
Eliot paused. "You've changed."
"So have you."
He nodded and they assessed each other. He watched Clint drink more of his beer, not on edge, but not comfortable either. "So, we good?"
Clint put his bottle on the table and looked conflicted. "Me and you? Right now? Yeah. We're good. But if you - you or your people cause problems - then no. We are not okay. It's up to you how you want to keep it. And know that things might be more than what they seem." And with that, he got up from the table and walked towards the back entrance, sending a "thanks for the drink" over his shoulder just before he went out of earshot.
Eliot sat at the table for another five minutes before he pulled the earbud out of his pocket and murmured, "guys, we need to talk. We might be blown."
***
Clint was on Eliot's tail the second he left the bar. After their... well, it wasn't quite a confrontation, but after their discussion he thought he may have sent the team into hiding, but Eliot just went back to the hotel.
Clint went back up to the office where they had spied on them before, and wasn't at all surprised to see Natasha there, waiting for him. "Did he say anything interesting?"
Clint didn't even try hiding where he went, and he shrugged. "It's Spencer."
He could tell that Natasha knew that there was more, but she left it at that, reconnecting the parabolic microphone to the computer. "He just got here, and started checking for surveillance in the room." Clint knew that they hadn't risked putting anything inside, knowing that if they moved they might not even have the vantage that they had now.
They waited quietly until the other four people showed up in the room, the man they had referred to has Hardison being guided by the girl they called Parker, with his arm in a sling and a glassy look in his eyes.
They watched as Eliot delicately checked out Hardison's injuries, finally deeming the work the hospital did satisfactory. "You okay?" he had asked him, clutching the man's good arm.
The other man nodded and Clint and Natasha exchanged a look. Was Eliot Spencer actually concerned about a teammate?
"You care about us," Clint offered to her, but she ignored him, turning back to their targets.
The tall man once again took charge. "Eliot, you said that we're blown. What happened?"
Eliot outlined the conversation in far greater detail than Clint just did, and everyone listened. "But Sophie," he finally finished, "I don't know what his relationship is with Tony Stark. After you guys worked at getting people out safely, they might trust you more. This could lead to the info we need."
It seemed that even though Nate was clearly the leader, she had control of this operation. "Then I say we show up tomorrow, just like we told Pepper we would. Eliot, you and Nate be close in case we need an extraction, but I think we have to follow this through."
And with that, she left with Nate, and Eliot and Parker turned to tend to Hardison's drooping eyelids.
Natasha had the rest of the equipment put back away by the time he had realized that they weren't going to talk about it again for the rest of the night. "What now?"
"Now we plan."
***
( Part Six. )
Natasha had been the first target of the blue weapons, and had it had been anyone else she was pretty confident that they wouldn't have gotten out of the way in time. Even then, she was impressed with Mason's quick thinking in grabbing Pepper - they were the only two still out in the open and were clearly where the second blast was going to go. Natasha had been convinced that she was going to have to explain to Tony Stark why his girlfriend was dead.
But that wasn't her biggest fear anymore. No. It wasn't for the people that were wielding what Steve had called Hydra weapons before, either. Sure, they were large and menacing and the weapons were terrifying, but they looked like they were normal people, acting under the influence of the Tessaract again. She could recognize that glassy look in their eyes anywhere. But no, that was not her fear.
Steve had just flipped over the table to protect Alice and Cassandra and was doing an admirable job of making the blasts not get their intended target. He, however, was missing the biggest threat.
She launched herself back behind the table to the far end and came beside a Bruce that had his eyes clenched shut and was breathing heavily, crouched on all fours. Her mind flashed to the helicarrier, and while she knew that he had better control now and that he was doing so much better, this was still not the best time to let the other guy loose. There were civilians all around, and even politically it could be catastrophic for him - never mind the fact that she still didn't know what Cassandra and the Hacker were up to.
"Bruce," she said calmly, curling one leg beneath her. He didn't respond. "Bruce, I'm going to touch you on the shoulder," she warned him, and then followed through. She had lost track of where Cassandra and Steve had gone, but she had seen Alice run across an opening a moment before, waiting for the moment of calm just after a blast. Good. All of her previous misgivings about the girl were gone and she was just thankful she could take care of Pepper and Mason. "Bruce," she repeated again, softly and calmly, despite the screaming and explosions around them. "Sit down. You're okay."
He was still breathing heavily, but he let her guide him into a sitting position, his eyes still clenched shut. "Bruce," she said again, hoping that he would anchor himself to his name. "Look at me. Open your eyes."
Her hand was still on his shoulder and she wrapped it around his neck at the back. "I'm right here, Bruce, open your eyes." When he finally did she could see the fear deep inside of them, but his breathing had begun to even out. She stared him right in the eye, even leaning forward into him. "I'm not leaving you, Bruce, you can do this."
They stared at each other, a single vision of quiet and still in the middle of chaos and he nodded, even cracking a bit of a smile. "Let's get out of here, shall we?" he asked, just as if he was bored at dinner, and she smiled.
"Yeah." She looked around quickly and located Cassandra a few tables back. She had made her way to where some other customers had gotten hurt, and Steve was finding as many serving trays he could to throw at the men, and she could see that he was severely missing his shield. "Can you get to Cassandra?" she asked him and he nodded. "Good. Get them out of here, and then you get away from the excitement, okay?"
He barely nodded before he was gone, reaching Cassandra and the hurt civilians, and pulling them to safety.
She turned back to the fight, and after seeing that Steve had already knocked out four of the men on his own, their spears rolling around useless on the ground, she chased after the six that had their sights on Pepper.
Her widow's bite wasn't much use against the protective suits, and she had to be careful not to touch the spears when fighting, but they were slow moving under the force of the Tesseract and she was inside the range of the explosive powers of the spears. Three had taken her on, and the remaining three continued around the corner, where she didn't see what happened to them. It didn't take her long to get three good punches to the head, and by then Steve had taken care of his remaining two.
It was just as she had taken a protective glove to trap a spear that was starting to roll away did she hear the familiar sound of Tony's suit flying through the air. He made a loop through the courtyard around the corner that most of the civilians had made their way to, and landed beside her.
His face shield popped up as he comically looked around at the mayhem. "What, you couldn't save some for me?"
***
Sophie had been giving Eliot instructions in his ear the whole time: how the weapons seemed to work, how to incapacitate the goons, and when there was going to be a new bunch of people coming around the corner that needed rescuing. He had just taken out two of the operators when Iron Man himself seemed to stop briefly at the top of one of the buildings surrounding the courtyard, and then flew around a few times before rounding the corner out of site.
Eliot had backed the third man up against the boarded up shop at the far side of the courtyard when he realised his mistake. One of the wounded women from the plaza had taken refuge there, behind that concrete bench. The man raised the spear and while he was too close to his target to use the jet stream of blue... whatever that was... the spear itself could still do a lot of harm...
Eliot saw no choice. The only way to stop the spear from coming down on the already wounded woman was to get in the way of the spear itself. He was about to make his move...
And then an arrow pierced through the man's protective gear, missing his flesh, but pinning him to the plywood behind him. Eliot didn't waste time, then, looking for the sniper that he knew he wouldn't be able to see, and took his opportunity, crashing the man's head against the wall behind, and watching him collapse.
The battle was done and he spied Hardison, Parker, and Sophie walking to an ambulance that had finally arrived. He overheard Pepper say to Sophie to take care of themselves tonight and to come back to Stark Tower in the morning, and Sophie agree.
Some of the people in hiding were starting to come back out, now, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone came looking for the final weapon and bad guy. "Sophie," he muttered while turning and walking away from the rubble. "I gotta go check on something. I'll see you back at the hotel later tonight."
***
Eliot looked in the reflection of the glass at street level, checking the positions of the people around him. He barely needed to think about it anymore. He just did it. Always checking, always careful. This time however, he wanted to be seen.
He kept his earbud in until he knew that everyone was okay, but he needed quiet in his head for a few minutes. He didn't mention it to the team, but he swore that he’d recognized something from the battle. He didn't want to mention it to them yet, not when he wasn't sure...
He grunted to himself. Of course he was sure. There was no one else that could have hit that target from that far away. Only him.
Eliot's hair brushed in front of his face and normally he liked it. It hid him from the people that he was trying to avoid, the co-workers-turned-enemies when he left them behind. But today, he needed to be seen. He needed his attention.
He brushed his hair out from in front of his face and looked towards the sky, scanning the roof tops and windows. He didn't expect to see him. He never did. But still, he hoped he was there.
He had walked to the other side of Manhattan where the people weren't cowering inside or hiding from the unknown assailants, and he finally found a good spot.
Eliot entered the dark bar and aimed his seat at the door hoping that the adjustment from the bright outdoors to the dark bar could give him a millisecond of advantage, if it was needed. Instead, the shape came from behind, and nimbly sat in the seat at the end of the table - the one with clear sightlines of the entire bar and the two exits. Dammit. He didn't expect him to come through the kitchen. Still, the other seat was harder to get out of, so he still felt like made the better choice.
The man sat perfectly still and their eyes bore into each other, each examining the other man, noticing each other's taunt muscles and hidden weapons. Finally Eliot blinked. If the other man wanted him dead, it wasn't going to be from close combat.
"Clint."
"Eliot."
Eliot nodded and signalled for the bartender who deposited two beer bottles on the table, which Clint immediately grabbed. "There's not many people who can say that they've had a beer with Eliot Spencer," Clint said casually. "Especially ones with our type of history."
"A lot more now than before, Barton."
The other man barely blinked, but pulled from his beer anyway, and Eliot knew that he would be the one that would have to speak first. Barton was just like that. He watched and waited for whatever was needed to come to him. "You were in the battle," Eliot said finally. "The one that destroyed New York."
Eliot was baiting Barton, and he could see that Barton knew it, still, he played along. "The one that saved New York. Probably a lot more, too."
Eliot was getting tired of this. This was the game for Nate and Sophie. He hated the veiled threats and plays on words. He just wanted to get answers to his questions - but he actually hadn't asked any questions yet. The others didn't know he was here... so what did he want to know?
"A lot of people think that we never would have gotten attacked in the first place if we hadn't demonstrated the ability to fight back," Eliot finally stammered through, copying what he once heard Hardison go on length about. "Super soldiers, Tony's suit... The Hulk."
Eliot examined Barton as he said those words, and he noticed the tiniest bit of a reaction, but he really didn't know how to interpret it. Dammit. He needed Sophie for this... but there was no way he would put her in this kind of harm's way.
While he was debating what to say next in his head, Barton initiated the conversation for the first time. "I saw you fight those guys before, with the spears. You were good."
"Yeah, well, couldn't let them go and hurt innocent people."
"Really? You're concerned about innocence?"
He could feel his body tensing and he could see that Barton could tell he was reacting. "Things've changed. I don't do that anymore, you get that? I'm in the business of helping people now. I know you get that."
"Yeah, well, forgive me if we're still a little wary." He paused to take another sip of his beer. "Why are you here, Spencer?"
Eliot finally sat back. "Got a job here. Have a client who was screwed by someone more powerful than him, and I'm trying to make it right."
Barton was studying him - he could feel it. He was content to wait it out, but then something that Barton said struck him. "If we're a little wary?" he quoted. "Who's we?"
Clint was silent, and Eliot could almost see the frustration on his face for letting something out that he shouldn't have, and things started to fall into place. "You're working for SHIELD again, aren't you?"
Barton cracked a smile. "Sometimes. When it suits me."
"And when it doesn't?"
"Whoever's the group of people that are doing the most amount of good."
Eliot paused. "You've changed."
"So have you."
He nodded and they assessed each other. He watched Clint drink more of his beer, not on edge, but not comfortable either. "So, we good?"
Clint put his bottle on the table and looked conflicted. "Me and you? Right now? Yeah. We're good. But if you - you or your people cause problems - then no. We are not okay. It's up to you how you want to keep it. And know that things might be more than what they seem." And with that, he got up from the table and walked towards the back entrance, sending a "thanks for the drink" over his shoulder just before he went out of earshot.
Eliot sat at the table for another five minutes before he pulled the earbud out of his pocket and murmured, "guys, we need to talk. We might be blown."
***
Clint was on Eliot's tail the second he left the bar. After their... well, it wasn't quite a confrontation, but after their discussion he thought he may have sent the team into hiding, but Eliot just went back to the hotel.
Clint went back up to the office where they had spied on them before, and wasn't at all surprised to see Natasha there, waiting for him. "Did he say anything interesting?"
Clint didn't even try hiding where he went, and he shrugged. "It's Spencer."
He could tell that Natasha knew that there was more, but she left it at that, reconnecting the parabolic microphone to the computer. "He just got here, and started checking for surveillance in the room." Clint knew that they hadn't risked putting anything inside, knowing that if they moved they might not even have the vantage that they had now.
They waited quietly until the other four people showed up in the room, the man they had referred to has Hardison being guided by the girl they called Parker, with his arm in a sling and a glassy look in his eyes.
They watched as Eliot delicately checked out Hardison's injuries, finally deeming the work the hospital did satisfactory. "You okay?" he had asked him, clutching the man's good arm.
The other man nodded and Clint and Natasha exchanged a look. Was Eliot Spencer actually concerned about a teammate?
"You care about us," Clint offered to her, but she ignored him, turning back to their targets.
The tall man once again took charge. "Eliot, you said that we're blown. What happened?"
Eliot outlined the conversation in far greater detail than Clint just did, and everyone listened. "But Sophie," he finally finished, "I don't know what his relationship is with Tony Stark. After you guys worked at getting people out safely, they might trust you more. This could lead to the info we need."
It seemed that even though Nate was clearly the leader, she had control of this operation. "Then I say we show up tomorrow, just like we told Pepper we would. Eliot, you and Nate be close in case we need an extraction, but I think we have to follow this through."
And with that, she left with Nate, and Eliot and Parker turned to tend to Hardison's drooping eyelids.
Natasha had the rest of the equipment put back away by the time he had realized that they weren't going to talk about it again for the rest of the night. "What now?"
"Now we plan."
***
( Part Six. )