Patience
Title: Patience
Rating: G
Fandom/Pairing: Eliot/Hardison
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, don't take this too seriously.
Genre: Ficlet written for hc_bingo for prompt "Loss of Job"
A/N: Set between seasons 2 and 3. Title from the track of the same name as Guns n Roses. And
The lights of Boston, finally visible up the highway, glaring off some thinly falling snow, meant Eliot was only an hour or so from home.
He's *still* at it, was all Parker's text message said, and Eliot didn't need to ask who it was that she meant. By the time Sophie's name appeared on the caller ID half an hour later, he was pulling up in front of McRory's.
His feet crunched through refrozen slush as he locked the truck.
Nate's place hadn't been rented out, yet. Another flight of stairs, and he was standing on Alec's floor. One of the light bulbs down the hall flickered lazily, well on its way to burning out. He tapped on the door, knowing full well that he'd already been picked up at least five times by the security system.
"What's up, man?" Alec asked, his eyes too bleary to convey his surprise. A beer dangled from his fingertips, but he looked more exhausted than drunk. "Shit. We have plans tonight?"
"Nah, man. Sorry, I should've called," Eliot lied, stepping inside. If he'd called, Alec would've been able to assure him that everything was fine, that he didn't need to worry. He wasn't nearly as good at it face to face.
Eliot dropped his coat on a kitchen chair as he passed to the fridge, grabbing a beer of his own.. This was where Alec was supposed to sputter about the invasion, make some snarky remark, but he merely followed Eliot through hooded eyes as he made himself at home.
"What's up?" he said, distractedly nervous. Both of them were ignoring the laptop sitting open on the table as Alec sat warily down across from him.
"Pretty much came here to ask you that exact question," Eliot sat down, leaning back in his chair.
"Parker called here, earlier," Alec said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he confirmed that he'd guessed right. "…And then she called you."
Eliot caught a fingernail under the bottle's label and tugged, just a bit. "Yeah, well." You wouldn't have, he didn't say. "Think she was just worried."
"And now she's got you worried," Alec smirked mirthlessly.
Eliot nodded into his beer. Sophie too. "So what's going on?"
"Parker," Alec rubbed a hand over his face, clearly trying to wake himself up. "She wanted me to help her clear an escape route."
"She still out in Milan?"
Hardison nodded glumly, which was all sorts of wrong. As far as Eliot had been able to tell, Alec liked doing that sort of thing. It didn't make any sense. "Yeah. Said I'd do it, no problem, even though their traffic lights are a mess, but when I asked her why she was doing it, she got all weird. Defensive."
Just her? "It's Parker," Eliot assured him. "Girl don't have reasons."
"Yeah." Alec looked away, then a little irritated, and the gesture confirmed all of Eliot's suspicions.
---
Parker didn't need reasons, but Hardison did.
And ever since Nate had, what? Given himself up? Conned his own crew? Gotten too wound up in his own bullshit that he'd had to? Ever since then, Alec had pretty much been the one left dealing with it. Doing what he normally did, cleaning up the mess after them and keeping an eye out
It wasn't like Eliot hadn't helped haul out every suspicious looking thing from Nate's place downstairs, but it was Hardison who'd been holding onto it. The gear. Nate's notepads. Files and photos and news clippings of all the people they hadn't helped yet, and all the bastards that were still out there, getting away with murder.
---
"You sleep at all?"
"Some."
---
Alec didn't know that Eliot knew- Eliot had heard it from Nate, about a month before that last shit-storm of a job- that Alec had hacked some bank in Finland to pay for his Nana's medical bills, back when he was still in high school. Another ten years or so, and he'd either be running his own crews, or the largest nonprofit foundation the country's ever seen. Right now though?
It felt like when they closed the mines, when his dad and his uncle both came home that last week. Knowing they were screwed, with nothing left to do with their lives but drink.
As much as he was trying to take over for Nate, Alec wasn't turning into a drunk, but Eliot wondered if it might not have been easier than picking up on Nate's obsession instead.
On top of tracking every scumbag still out there, Alec insisted on poring over the plans of every jail the feds moved Nate to for more than a night. Cross-referencing every single law that came up in the supposedly closed courtroom. Reading up on the records of every inmate in every jail, trying to come up with a predictive model of who Nate would talk to, and who, if anyone, could be used as an inside man.
---
"You hungry?"
"Nah."
The label loosened a bit more underneath Eliot's thumb. Alec didn't move at all.
---
At first, Alec had insisted he was doing it all because he'd wanted to be able to hit the ground running once Nate was back.
"Not so good with down time, man," he'd said at the time, and Eliot had nodded. None of them were, not really.
But in the meantime?
Eliot had the garden to plant and a cabin down in the Ozarks that needed work, if the weather would just cooperate. Trips he could make when the sitting around contemplating his unemployment got too boring to contemplate, even if he was never gone more than a couple of days. Parker and Sophie had both gone further afield, but they'd come back when they were needed, when there was anything to do besides sit and stare over Alec's shoulder.
---
Not for the first time, Eliot said as much to Hardison. "Soon as the time's right, we'll come up with a workable plan, and be back in business."
"Yeah, I got that. What the hell do you think I've been up here working on? I'm not that guy. You need info, I can find it for you. You need a game, though? An idea?" He threw up his hands and looked away. It was a conversation they'd had before- twice this month already, if anyone was counting- and it wasn't one that they needed to have again.
But at least this time, it gave Eliot an idea.
"Actually, that was something I was wondering about, up at the cabin when I was sitting on my snowed-in ass getting nothing done."
"What's that?"
"Call of Duty? You said you were going to force the addiction on me, if I remember correctly."
"Yeah…what. Now?"
"No time like the present. You need distraction, and after taking twelve hours to make an eight hour drive, I'm down for some lazy violence. You in?"
It wasn't a cure, and it wasn't the sleep that Alec so obviously needed, but it had to beat the hell out of staring at plans that were going nowhere. And while it wasn't much, it at least took advantage of part of Alec's realm of expertise, even if it was only the part where he groused every time Eliot didn't push the right buttons in the right combination.
Eliot rose first, heading over towards the living room and wondering, not for the first time, why Alec insisted on staying about Nate's graveyard of an apartment when he had a much nicer place downtown.
Alec joined him on the couch, after getting the console ready and the game up and running. Eliot shifted so they were pressed together a little bit more. A little impractical, but then again, there was nothing practical about playing video games at three in the morning.
---
"…no, man, you want to grab that laptop. Enemy intel. Come on! You hate computers so much, here's your chance to prove it." Alec said, one of his hands sneaking towards the controller like he was convinced Eliot needed the help.
"I got this," Eliot growled, snagging the controller away, and played on.
By the time he cleared Act 1, he could feel Alec sagging into him a bit more heavily, but when he glanced over, Alec's eyes were still glued to the screen, but he'd been content to let Eliot do his thing, apparently satisfied that Eliot could manage without training wheels.
"How was the cabin? I forgot to ask." Alec gestured at the screen as Eliot destroyed the anti-aircraft gun.. "Okay, now you're supposed to regroup at the tank."
"Yeah. I know. And the cabin sucked," Eliot snorted, eyes back on the screen. "Snowed the whole time."
"Yeah? This late? It's, like, spring, right?"
Eliot snorted. You haven't actually left the house in days, have you?
"I know. Didn't get any of the repairs done. Gotta go back in a few weeks." Shooting another enemy soldier down, he glanced sidelong at Alec. "You should come with me. Get a vacation from all this unemployment crap."
Alec swatted at his hand, but didn't disagree. "First, man. I gotta show you this. Okay, so you see those three soldiers over there? Yeah. Here's what you do…"
---
Rating: G
Fandom/Pairing: Eliot/Hardison
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, don't take this too seriously.
Genre: Ficlet written for hc_bingo for prompt "Loss of Job"
A/N: Set between seasons 2 and 3. Title from the track of the same name as Guns n Roses. And
The lights of Boston, finally visible up the highway, glaring off some thinly falling snow, meant Eliot was only an hour or so from home.
He's *still* at it, was all Parker's text message said, and Eliot didn't need to ask who it was that she meant. By the time Sophie's name appeared on the caller ID half an hour later, he was pulling up in front of McRory's.
His feet crunched through refrozen slush as he locked the truck.
Nate's place hadn't been rented out, yet. Another flight of stairs, and he was standing on Alec's floor. One of the light bulbs down the hall flickered lazily, well on its way to burning out. He tapped on the door, knowing full well that he'd already been picked up at least five times by the security system.
"What's up, man?" Alec asked, his eyes too bleary to convey his surprise. A beer dangled from his fingertips, but he looked more exhausted than drunk. "Shit. We have plans tonight?"
"Nah, man. Sorry, I should've called," Eliot lied, stepping inside. If he'd called, Alec would've been able to assure him that everything was fine, that he didn't need to worry. He wasn't nearly as good at it face to face.
Eliot dropped his coat on a kitchen chair as he passed to the fridge, grabbing a beer of his own.. This was where Alec was supposed to sputter about the invasion, make some snarky remark, but he merely followed Eliot through hooded eyes as he made himself at home.
"What's up?" he said, distractedly nervous. Both of them were ignoring the laptop sitting open on the table as Alec sat warily down across from him.
"Pretty much came here to ask you that exact question," Eliot sat down, leaning back in his chair.
"Parker called here, earlier," Alec said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he confirmed that he'd guessed right. "…And then she called you."
Eliot caught a fingernail under the bottle's label and tugged, just a bit. "Yeah, well." You wouldn't have, he didn't say. "Think she was just worried."
"And now she's got you worried," Alec smirked mirthlessly.
Eliot nodded into his beer. Sophie too. "So what's going on?"
"Parker," Alec rubbed a hand over his face, clearly trying to wake himself up. "She wanted me to help her clear an escape route."
"She still out in Milan?"
Hardison nodded glumly, which was all sorts of wrong. As far as Eliot had been able to tell, Alec liked doing that sort of thing. It didn't make any sense. "Yeah. Said I'd do it, no problem, even though their traffic lights are a mess, but when I asked her why she was doing it, she got all weird. Defensive."
Just her? "It's Parker," Eliot assured him. "Girl don't have reasons."
"Yeah." Alec looked away, then a little irritated, and the gesture confirmed all of Eliot's suspicions.
---
Parker didn't need reasons, but Hardison did.
And ever since Nate had, what? Given himself up? Conned his own crew? Gotten too wound up in his own bullshit that he'd had to? Ever since then, Alec had pretty much been the one left dealing with it. Doing what he normally did, cleaning up the mess after them and keeping an eye out
It wasn't like Eliot hadn't helped haul out every suspicious looking thing from Nate's place downstairs, but it was Hardison who'd been holding onto it. The gear. Nate's notepads. Files and photos and news clippings of all the people they hadn't helped yet, and all the bastards that were still out there, getting away with murder.
---
"You sleep at all?"
"Some."
---
Alec didn't know that Eliot knew- Eliot had heard it from Nate, about a month before that last shit-storm of a job- that Alec had hacked some bank in Finland to pay for his Nana's medical bills, back when he was still in high school. Another ten years or so, and he'd either be running his own crews, or the largest nonprofit foundation the country's ever seen. Right now though?
It felt like when they closed the mines, when his dad and his uncle both came home that last week. Knowing they were screwed, with nothing left to do with their lives but drink.
As much as he was trying to take over for Nate, Alec wasn't turning into a drunk, but Eliot wondered if it might not have been easier than picking up on Nate's obsession instead.
On top of tracking every scumbag still out there, Alec insisted on poring over the plans of every jail the feds moved Nate to for more than a night. Cross-referencing every single law that came up in the supposedly closed courtroom. Reading up on the records of every inmate in every jail, trying to come up with a predictive model of who Nate would talk to, and who, if anyone, could be used as an inside man.
---
"You hungry?"
"Nah."
The label loosened a bit more underneath Eliot's thumb. Alec didn't move at all.
---
At first, Alec had insisted he was doing it all because he'd wanted to be able to hit the ground running once Nate was back.
"Not so good with down time, man," he'd said at the time, and Eliot had nodded. None of them were, not really.
But in the meantime?
Eliot had the garden to plant and a cabin down in the Ozarks that needed work, if the weather would just cooperate. Trips he could make when the sitting around contemplating his unemployment got too boring to contemplate, even if he was never gone more than a couple of days. Parker and Sophie had both gone further afield, but they'd come back when they were needed, when there was anything to do besides sit and stare over Alec's shoulder.
---
Not for the first time, Eliot said as much to Hardison. "Soon as the time's right, we'll come up with a workable plan, and be back in business."
"Yeah, I got that. What the hell do you think I've been up here working on? I'm not that guy. You need info, I can find it for you. You need a game, though? An idea?" He threw up his hands and looked away. It was a conversation they'd had before- twice this month already, if anyone was counting- and it wasn't one that they needed to have again.
But at least this time, it gave Eliot an idea.
"Actually, that was something I was wondering about, up at the cabin when I was sitting on my snowed-in ass getting nothing done."
"What's that?"
"Call of Duty? You said you were going to force the addiction on me, if I remember correctly."
"Yeah…what. Now?"
"No time like the present. You need distraction, and after taking twelve hours to make an eight hour drive, I'm down for some lazy violence. You in?"
It wasn't a cure, and it wasn't the sleep that Alec so obviously needed, but it had to beat the hell out of staring at plans that were going nowhere. And while it wasn't much, it at least took advantage of part of Alec's realm of expertise, even if it was only the part where he groused every time Eliot didn't push the right buttons in the right combination.
Eliot rose first, heading over towards the living room and wondering, not for the first time, why Alec insisted on staying about Nate's graveyard of an apartment when he had a much nicer place downtown.
Alec joined him on the couch, after getting the console ready and the game up and running. Eliot shifted so they were pressed together a little bit more. A little impractical, but then again, there was nothing practical about playing video games at three in the morning.
---
"…no, man, you want to grab that laptop. Enemy intel. Come on! You hate computers so much, here's your chance to prove it." Alec said, one of his hands sneaking towards the controller like he was convinced Eliot needed the help.
"I got this," Eliot growled, snagging the controller away, and played on.
By the time he cleared Act 1, he could feel Alec sagging into him a bit more heavily, but when he glanced over, Alec's eyes were still glued to the screen, but he'd been content to let Eliot do his thing, apparently satisfied that Eliot could manage without training wheels.
"How was the cabin? I forgot to ask." Alec gestured at the screen as Eliot destroyed the anti-aircraft gun.. "Okay, now you're supposed to regroup at the tank."
"Yeah. I know. And the cabin sucked," Eliot snorted, eyes back on the screen. "Snowed the whole time."
"Yeah? This late? It's, like, spring, right?"
Eliot snorted. You haven't actually left the house in days, have you?
"I know. Didn't get any of the repairs done. Gotta go back in a few weeks." Shooting another enemy soldier down, he glanced sidelong at Alec. "You should come with me. Get a vacation from all this unemployment crap."
Alec swatted at his hand, but didn't disagree. "First, man. I gotta show you this. Okay, so you see those three soldiers over there? Yeah. Here's what you do…"
---