Broken Bone (or The Construction Job)
Broken Bone (Or the Construction Job)
“God damn it!” Eliot yelled as he sat behind Hardison, watching the transaction take place. “I told him this was a bad idea.”
He didn’t wait for the others reaction to the men that had snuck up on them. Nate was trying to keep him out of this one since his ribs still weren’t 100% but he’d just come along, watching the screens behind Hardison. Nate didn’t like it much, but then Eliot hadn’t really given him a choice. Sensitive ribs or not, the team needed him right now and he was glad he’d tagged along.
“Eliot?” He heard Hardison calling for him over his earpiece.
“Gonna get them out of there.” Was all he said. Hardison didn’t try to say anything else, but he could hear the tickety tick of computer keys as Hardison worked on the security system that would get him in just like it had the others. Only difference was that the others needed out and Eliot was the guy that always had a way. Eliot was the bulldozer that cleared the way. He wasn’t going to fail them now, not when he’d just gotten used to them.
“Elevators are clear.” He heard and smiled as the doors pulled open for him. He just stepped inside and waited as it made it’s way to the fifth floor where the others were waiting. They knew he was coming but Nate was the only one that really knew the extent of what he could do. He just hoped that Sophie and Parker would hold still long enough for him to get there and do it.
Six men. He could handle that so long as everyone kept their calm. Well, so long as his people kept their calm. The door opened and he stepped out of the elevator. It was a short walk and then the hallway opened up and everything was clear.
The first went down with a kick to the knee and the second was down before the others even knew he was there. Guy three was looking at him like he was terrified and number four looked like it was party time. Number three was a priority because the terrified were normally the ones that did the stupid things so he rushed him, taking him down quickly with a single hit to the nose.
He turned from him just in time to see something coming crashing down. The metal connected with his left forearm and he was sure something broke. He didn’t have time to stop to feel it. Instead he kicked out, keeping his opponent off balance. Number four back off when the other two advanced. Eliot smirked, knowing that as much as they were there together they weren’t a team at all. There was no cohesion to the way they fought and it was a lot better than he had hoped for.
Guys five and six didn’t take much effort even if he was fighting it all one handed, his left cradled as close to his body as he could make it. For someone else this might have been a good fight, but Eliot was used to being in the thick of things, guns trained on him and only his instinct and agility getting him out alive. A bunch of hired punks were nothing on the trained military squads he’d faced.
Back to guy four though and he was still smiling and swinging that metal pipe like it was his favorite baseball bat. Eliot really didn’t want to play ball again.
He saw Nate and made brief eye contact, shaking his head slightly to keep the other man back. He knew Nate would get the others out safely but the man really didn’t need to come back for him. He could lick his own wounds in private once this was all done.
Four smiled at him and Eliot let himself focus entirely on him, on their surroundings and anything that would give him the edge. There wasn’t much to go on but Four had a slight limp, not too noticeable but he could see the way his steps were slightly staggered, slightly off to compensate. No way to tell if it was a previous injury that never healed well or something new, but either way it was all he had to work with.
When Four took to swinging in earnest, Eliot went on the offensive. He dodged behind furniture and made his way to the edge of the room. It gave Nate a clear shot at the door and he saw them moving and didn’t look further. They were away and that was his job after all. He came to get them out and they were out. Everything else was bonus.
The metal pipe was heavy and Eliot could see Four was getting tired from swinging it at him. It was the sign of his amateur status that he kept going at it, trying to intimidate Eliot with the blows as much as to hit him. When he took the next swing he was off balance slightly and Eliot made his move. He delivered a quick right-left and as he stepped back, Eliot swung out with his foot. Four went down and by the time Eliot quit kicking he wasn’t moving.
“Goddamnmotherfuckinsonofabitch!” Eliot let out the expletive without thinking, cradling his left arm. It hurt like hell and he knew it was broken. He’d broken enough bones to recognize it, even before he’d hit the other man with it.
“Eliot?”
It was Nate’s voice in his ear and he pushed aside the need to curse more. They were all listening and he needed to get the hell out of there. “On my way out.” Was what he grunted but it was as much as he dared to say.
He made it to the elevator and when the door opened Nate was waiting for him. “I told you to stay back.”
“Yell at me after I get my arm set would you?”
Nate took a deep breath and stepped aside so he could enter the elevator. The door wasn’t closed yet before he began again. “What were you thinking? You weren’t up for this fight.”
“Better a broken arm than all of you dead. You think I was going to hang back for that? I might have always worked alone before Nate, but that doesn’t make me that kind of person.”
“You could have gotten seriously hurt Eliot!”
He was yelling and then Eliot understood. He shook his head and took a deep breath to keep back his need to remind Nate of what he did for a living because it wasn’t going to help any. Nate was staring hard at him when Eliot looked into his eyes. “I get it Nate. You’ve never really had anything go wrong like this, never needed the muscle to get you out of it. That’s what I’m here for. Don’t sweat it man. It’s just a broken arm. I’ll have it set and be back to normal in no time.”
“No!” Nate pushed him and it was unexpected. He let him go, let himself be pushed back against the wall. “YOU. You got hurt. You got hurt because I screwed up.” He looked like he was about to say something more, but then the door opened on the ground floor. Nate pushed one last time at his shoulders. “It won’t happen again.”
He seemed to deflate after those words and he was careful not to make any noise when Nate pulled him off the wall, knocking his elbow lightly against the doorframe as they passed.
When they were in the truck he closed his eyes, let his head fall back on the wall until they could get him to the doctor. He didn’t know how to handle Nate right now. Since that first time, middle of a pool game, that he’d tried to befriend Nate he’d come time and time again against a brick wall. He smiled slightly. Maybe he was finally starting to get through to him.
He looked down at his arm and then back up at Nate who was watching him like a hawk. Hell, a couple more injuries and they just might be friends. He’d need a sledgehammer and maybe a crowbar or two, but he’d get that wall down. One way or another.