Title : The Dream Machine
Fandom : Leverage
Character : Eliot Spencer
Rating : PG-13
Written for the song_prompt prompt of Leverage, Eliot, Silver Dream Machine by David Essex and inspired by a picture of Christian Kane on a motorbike. This fic quite possibly plays fast and loose with Eliot's actual age and the potential age of any older sister that he may or may not have, along with the likelihood of her having seen the film and/or fallen for David Essex. At this point I have only seen to part way through Season 3, so specifics on any of those counts are not within my knowledge.
Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
The Dream Machine
It had been a dream since he was about nine. His older sister was to blame in a way. She'd been the one infatuated with David Essex, the one with the posters on the wall. It was different back then or at least he liked to think it was. Things had been bad at home, arguments and fighting, hiding in his sister's room as he tried to stay out of sight, out of mind.
He'd already realized that what he wanted in terms of family, love, care, respect was never going to happen. He had his sister and he prayed every night before he went to bed that she wouldn't leave him and when he fell asleep his thoughts were on that poster on his sister's wall. The poster of David Essex from a film he'd never seen standing beside a beautiful motorbike.
He'd heard the song – the "Silver Dream Machine". His sister played it often enough, he had no choice but to know it, but it became a reminder and while his sister listened and dreamed of being whisked away by her latest crush, he dreamed of having a bike like that one, a bike on which he could ride away from all the fighting, leave the arguments and bitterness behind him; a bike that was big enough to have enough power to outrun anything (anyone), even if he took his sister with him.
It said a lot that one of the first things he bought as soon as he could scrape the money and license together at sixteen was a motorbike. It was nowhere near as extravagant as his dream machine, but it served him well enough to take him away from home during the arguments, even take his sister with him when he wanted. It wasn't big enough to carry them far and there would have been no outrunning anyone, had anyone cared enough to follow, but it was the best he could manage at the time.
It was the start of the future, the beginning of his freedom.
With every job, every dollar earned, Eliot looked to improve. At first it was simply keeping the machine he already owned running, then he worked his way up to making improvements, ever increasing upgrades. He scrimped and saved to replace the machine, buying bigger and better. Not much at the time, but it was one step closer to the real machine of his dreams.
By the time his sister was marrying, he was four bikes down the road and he knew that he was on his own, she wouldn't be coming with him. It was the final push he needed to leave. He's never really looked back, never regretted that one of the choices he made in his life. He'd have liked to stay closer to his sister, but she got better in her life than constantly running from her past.
The bike he has now is top of the range. Given the years of progress in design and development, it still bears a remarkable resemblance to the bike he's been dreaming about all this time. He maintains it in perfect condition and it's always ready for the day he has to run again.