New Leverage Fic: Breaking Point

[ralkana]

I am still mulling over my impressions of last night's episodes. I'll post them either tonight or tomorrow. Short version: loved 3.03, had... issues with 3.04. Hence this fic.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 UP TO 3.04, THE SCHEHERAZADE JOB! BEWARE!

Breaking Point
By Ralkana

Comments

[yanzadracan]

*Gasp* Excellent. Left me blinking owlishly just like the episode did.

[ralkana]

:) Thank you! Glad you liked it!

[katiekins22]

This is amazing and very... necessary. I've been just kind of trying to ignore the weird mind-control stuff going on, but it's deeply troublesome and just wrong, and this is really what *should* have happened, even if it hurts to read it. It hurts because they really *are* this messed up. *wonders what the writers are smoking*

Nicely written, though, I really think you hit the characters' reactions and levels of discomfort perfectly.

[ralkana]

Thank you very much!

It disturbed me, a great deal. These characters are damaged, and accustomed to being very isolated, and they've finally found a group of people they can trust, and their "leaders" are abusing that trust, seemingly left and right (especially in Sophie's case, where it was nothing more than a practical joke!). It seems to me that it can't keep going on.

[honeyjojames]

Great story! I really didn't like the ending of the last episode, so I'm glad someone wrote something like this... Eliot and the others would have reacted badly to it, I'm sure.

[ralkana]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The ending made me frown when I first saw it, and the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I was with it. It just felt... wrong.

I know this isn't the way it's going to go in canon, but I hope there's some sort of resolution to that "wrong" feeling.

[celtic_flicka]

This is great--despite Eliot and Hardison's bickering, Eliot *would* be this pissed about Nate's hypnotizing Hardison. It was definitely over the line, and Nate's unapologetic attitude made it worse. It feels to me like they're leading up to some kind of breakdown with Eliot, so this really feels like it could happen.

[ralkana]

Oh, they bicker because they're brothers -- it's because of that bickering that Eliot would be so pissed off on Hardison's behalf! If they weren't close, he wouldn't be this angry.

To be fair, a lot of the anger that came through in the fic was due to his own anger at Sophie's treatment of him, in addition to Nate's treatment of Hardison. It just all sort of boiled over.

Nate's unapologetic attitude made it worse.

That's what got to me. There was absolutely no remorse, no, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't have done that." Nate doesn't think there's anything wrong with it, and that's wrong.

It feels to me like they're leading up to some kind of breakdown with Eliot

I don't know if it'll be Eliot's breakdown, someone else's breakdown, or a teamwide breakdown, but it does feel like something's coming. We'll see, though -- I've expected resolution from writers and showrunners before and have been let down. Only time will tell.

[ralkana]

Hee. I forgot to say thanks! Glad you liked it.

[celtic_flicka]

I did! I've been on a big Leverage fic kick in the last few days, and I'm really enjoying yours. :)

[dragondie]

When I watched the last episodes the concerns that are raised here didn't stand out to me. Looking back though, there are some pretty blatant consent issues going on here. Sure they're played for laughs, but taking control of others actions without their permission is defiantly morally dubious at best, even if it is to help them in some way. :/

[ralkana]

Well, I'm glad my fic helped you see another side of things! That's what fic is for, right?

Sure they're played for laughs, but taking control of others actions without their permission is defiantly morally dubious at best, even if it is to help them in some way.

The fact that they're played for laughs is what makes me so uneasy. "Mind control" is such a... silly, hot-button name for what Nate and Sophie did, but it's accurate. What they did affected their teammates' free will, and that's wrong.

As far as what Nate & Sophie did "helping" in some way, I don't see it. Sophie's manipulation of Eliot was done as a joke, and Nate didn't do what he did to help Hardison. I don't remember what his explanation was (something about pushing Hardison to be his very best, no matter what, I think?), but I don't buy it. He did what he did to get the job done. If he'd truly done it to help Hardison's confidence, he wouldn't have told him about the hypnosis at all. As renisanz said above, what he did by telling Hardison about it was actually undermine Alec

[renisanz]

If he'd truly done it to help Hardison's confidence, he wouldn't have told him about the hypnosis at all. As renisanz said above, what he did by telling Hardison about it was actually undermine Alec's confidence.

I think this is what got to me more than anything. Nate didn't present it as Hardison needing to learn a skill to be able to run his own team, no stressing that Alec was too "good" of a person to manipulate someone in that way. Alec seems to come from a "warmer" place, one where I don't think he'd be able to justify using someone like that as a means to an end.

I can see Nate wanting Hardison to see that it's not just being smart and skilled that makes you a good team leader. Nate is ruthless at times, and Hardison doesn't really have that in him, and honestly, if he lost that characteristic, it wouldn't be Hardison. It would be like him losing his innocence or something.

But yeah, Nate's still a jerk.

[dragondie]

Yeah, I agree that it wasn't done for primarily helpful reasons here, I was just making a general statement. :) Nate is always kind of a dick and that's not something that the show every really lets you forget.